HBCU Pigskin preps to highlight Marion, Selma on a national scale

HBCU Pigskin Showdown organizers have big plans to get Marion ready to host its second major all-star football game that will be played in front of thousands of spectators, a national TV audience and up to 32 NFL scouts in December.

Chris Williams, Pigskin executive director and co-founder, says they will be adding seats on all four sides of the field at Marion Military Institute to fit 5,000 fans at the game set for Dec. 17 at noon.

NBC Sports is bringing several big trucks full of equipment and cameras to air the game live on Peacock and CNBC as part of an effort to show more HBCU games.

The game will be packed with entertainment during commercial breaks and halftime, Williams said. The New Orleans all-star high school band that includes the best musicians from marching bands at many different HBCUs will perform during halftime.

Last year’s inaugural Pigskin game brought in 16 scouts from NFL teams to size up players from 30 HBCU teams for their rosters. Mobile natives Williams and co-founder Bryant Grove, who have been football coaches in the arena leagues and talent scouts in the Canadian Football League, put together the Pigskin game to give more exposure to HBCU players who have been overlooked by NFL scouts in recent years.

The focus last year was on making sure the event was worth it for NFL scouts to come, Williams said.

“We had to get the NFL to take us seriously. We made sure practice was great. The players were good so they would take us seriously,” Williams said. “Now we can put on a good show.”

Williams chose MMI for the game after plans to host at Memorial Stadium in Selma last year fell through because of storm damage. Williams attended MMI and got a warm welcome to bring the game to David Robinson Memorial Stadium.

The game will be an economic boon for the area, with spectators flooding in and buying gas, staying in hotels and eating at area restaurants, Williams said. He expects to see many HBCU college fans and administrators come to Marion for the weekend to attend the game and be a part of the growing festivities around it.

In preparation for this year’s game, organizers have been meeting with area government leaders, including the mayors of Selma and Marion as well as the president at MMI to plan out logistics like parking, traffic and where cameras and TV trucks will go.

With national TV exposure, Pigskin organizers hope to highlight what makes the Black Belt great, including telling stories from Selma and surrounding communities.

“We want HBCUs getting attention too, so we are mixing the two initiatives together to tell the story of all of it,” Williams said. “Everybody is ready to be re-educated on that. It’s perfect time for that while more companies are looking for more diversity and inclusion.”

Stories include showing the church in Perry County where Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. got married. And the story behind Jimmy Lee Jackson’s killing during the civil rights movement and sharing why African Americans marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery.

“Most people 25 and younger can’t tell you why they marched,” Williams said. “We want to show there is value in coming to this area. To tour and look around. To me personally, I think Selma and definitely Marion have been forgotten in this process.”

NBC Sports also plans to bring HBCU journalism students to be part of NBCU Academy and help cover the event for NBCSports.com.

“HBCUs are so important to our nation,” Grove said. “We’re thankful for NBC Sports recognizing our vision and partnering with us to continue to provide a platform for these young men while highlighting the history of the Black Belt region between both Marion and Selma, Alabama, as well as the campus of Marion Military Institute.”

For information and to get tickets to the events you can go to the website www.hbcupigskinshowdown.com and you can find them on Facebook and Instagram.