ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Four Lobos, Teriyon Gipson, Austin Apodaca, Nias Martin and Lee Crosby, have been selected to play in various postseason all-star games as they get ready to transition for potential professional careers.
Martin and Crosby, two defensive backs, will both play in the Tropical Bowl, while Gipson will play in the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and Austin Apodaca will play in the College Gridiron Showcase.
The Tropical Bowl will take place on January 15 at 9 a.m. Eastern at Daytona Beach Municipal Stadium (Larry Kelly Field) in Daytona Beach, Florida. Crosby will be playing for the National squad, coached by Mike Stock, who has coached with the Cincinnati Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Washington Redskins, the St. Louis Rams and the Green Bay Packers. Martin will be playing opposite of Crosby on the American squad, coached by Todd Littlejohn, who coached with UCLA, California, Syracuse and most recently New Mexico State.
Crosby had a knack for big plays in his career, scoring the winning touchdown on a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter against Hawai’i last season in a 28-21 road win. Martin registered 11 pass break-ups in 2016, tied for the 10th most in school history for a single season. He too also scored on a fumble recovery, back in 2015 against San José State.
The NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be played on Saturday, January 21 at 1 p.m. Pacific in the greater Los Angeles area at the StubHub Center. It will be broadcast live on FS1. Gipson, who rushed for over 3,000 yards in his UNM career including leading the nation in yards per carry as a senior, is featured on the official NFLPA Collegiate Bowl website as a 2016 Breakout Performer at running back. While the teams haven’t been announced yet, he certainly will have an experienced coach whichever side he plays for, as the 2017 coaches are Mike Martz, formerly of the St. Louis Rams, and Jim Zorn, formerly of the Washington Redskins.
The College Gridiron Showcase is currently taking place, and it runs from January 7-11, with a game for the best of the camp on the 11th. It is taking place in Bedford, Texas at Pennington Field. Austin Apodaca is one of 12 quarterbacks in the showcase, which allows for professional scouts and coaches to come in and evaluate, coach and mentor the players over a five-day period. Apodaca started four games in 2016 before suffering an injury. He returned to come off the bench to lead UNM to wins over Nevada, Hawai’i and Utah State, three key wins in UNM’s run to the 2016 Mountain Division title.
Four Lobos Headed to All-Star Games
