CEDAR PARK, Texas — In addition to NFL players Devin Duvernay and Justin Tucker, about a dozen 9-year-old flag football players also represented Central Texas at the 2022 NFL Pro Bowl.
The Cedar Park Bulldogs earned a spot in the NFL Flag Bowl – a multi-day tournament hosted in Nevada during Pro Bowl weekend. The Bulldogs entered the weekend having already earned 13 national and world championships, combined.
Former Longhorn and NFL safety Kenny Vaccaro is an assistant coach. He said work ethic is to thank for the team's success.
"These kids work hard every day," said Vaccaro. "It's almost like I'm back playing football in the NFL, the way we train so hard."
For the Bulldogs, hard work and persistence go hand in hand. Many of these young athletes have spent over half their lives playing football.
"Whenever I was five, I tried my first season of football and I really like it," said Bulldogs quarterback Ayden Salik. "I just kept doing it and I got better."
The Bulldogs advanced to the national semifinals in the NFL Flag Bowl. Though they did not add a 14th championship to their trophy case this time, plenty of life lessons were learned along the way.
"If you're scared to do something or to step off on a ledge," said Bulldogs coach Willi Muhammad, "it just means you're about to do something really brave."
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