Super Bowl Week Festivities Start with Wheelchair All-Star Game
By Kyler Maira
The first football game kicked off Super Bowl week with the visiting Stars taking on the Stripes in the USA Wheelchair Football League’s (USAWFL) All-Star game. For the second straight year, the league’s top players faced off on the biggest stage; this year with an even bigger pool of players to choose from.
Since the league’s inauguration in 2020, it has grown from five to fourteen teams across the United States and follows strict regulations to ensure fairness. Medical experts rank each athlete that joins the USAWFL on a one to five point scale based on their functional ability, capping each team at 21 total points.
The USAWFL was founded with support from the NFL-Bob Woodruff Foundation Salute to Service grant to allow veterans with mobility ailments to compete. CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Anne Marie Dougherty, hopes that it can blossom into something even bigger.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I think the NFL is excited too. Salute to Service continues to grow, so I think we have an opportunity to continue to grow the league. Our big vision is that there is a wheelchair football team in every market that there is an NFL club.”
Dougherty noted that putting together an event at the Super Bowl took a lot of effort, but with the help of the NFL, they got the chance to bring wheelchair football to the main stage.
In total, the USAWFL provided the opportunity for organized football to over one thousand players and one hundred coaches. Quarterback of the Stars and Marine Corps veteran from Rockland Massachusetts, John Brace feels grateful to have a team outside of the one he fought for in the military.
“As my injuries got worse over the years, you kind of give up on that teammate ability,” he said. “Basketball, football, relying on each other, split-second timing, and having each other’s backs in the moment, it just means the world.
Brace fired in the game-winning touchdown pass to give the Stars a 20-19 double-overtime victory in a back-and-forth game. The All-Star nature of the matchup, though, meant the score mattered less than the exposure that the players got to each other and those watching.
“My hope is that this can become a cornerstone,” said Dougherty. “Where you can come to watch and celebrate the Super Bowl and you know you’re going to get to see some wheelchair football action too.”