FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Blink, and you just might miss them.
"The game goes fast, it's high-paced, it's go-go-go," Colorado Crushers flag football coach Robert Mozer said. "It's a 50-yard field, and as they get older, the field gets tight, and you've got a lot of speed and athleticism out there."
Mozer coaches the U-12 and U-14 teams for the Colorado Crushers. Both of his teams, as well as the U-8 team, qualified for the NFL Flag Football Championships in Las Vegas during Pro Bowl weekend.
"We'll be around a lot of great teams that went there for the same purpose: to win. There's a lot of confidence that you feel when you're on the field around them," he said. "It happens to be at the Pro Bowl, so you're going to see a lot of players. We're going to see a lot of the good athletes out there. That environment and that atmosphere is a fun experience for the kids."
When the kids heard they'd be bumping elbows with the game's biggest stars, it was a pretty easy consensus of who they wanted to see: Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, and Derrick Henry. Only about 50 percent of those players will actually be in Sunday's game, but these championship-caliber players have a right to dream big!
The experience of playing in Las Vegas is a win in and of itself, but the U-14 team has been to the championship four other times and never finished in the top three. This time, they feel like they have the special sauce.
"Getting good team camaraderie, knowing what we're each good and bad at so when we're out on the field, it's just like we're playing backyard ball and having fun," wide receiver Marcus Mozer said.
Marcus is a freshman at Fossil Ridge High School and plays tackle football with most of his U-14 teammates. His father and coach Robert said there are a lot of similarities between the two.
"There's a skillset that you can translate over from flag to tackle. A lot of the route-running, the quarterback's timing, even just on defense, the breaking down, the chopping your feet, going in to get a flag, is different in tackle, you're going in and lowering your shoulder and making a hit, but it's the same approach in flag that it is in tackle," he said.
The U-14 team is the only boys group that is eligible to actually play on the field of Allegiant stadium on the same day as the NFL Pro Bowl. Coach Mozer said this year's team knows it has an uphill battle ahead, but can see the road map.
"We've been able to compete, we just haven't been able to get over the hump," he said. "Because of that, we're approaching this as our last one. We've got a job to do and go earn something."
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