Special Olympics Mississippi Launches Unified Egg Bowl

The Egg Bowl between Ole Miss and Mississippi State doesn’t kick off for another three-plus weeks, but Special Olympics Mississippi will have Rebel and Bulldog teams facing off Nov. 19 in the inaugural Unified Egg Bowl.
The event will kick off at 3 p.m. CT on the Mississippi State campus intramural athletic fields. Special Olympics athletes with intellectual disabilities will play flag football on teams alongside traditional college students from Ole Miss and Mississippi State, while sharing in the fanfare and passionate competition that the schools will display when their Division 1 football teams meet the following week.
Rebel sophomore tight end Evan Engram and freshman quarterback Ryan Buchanan each practiced with Team Ole Miss on Tuesday evening in preparation for the game.
“The goals behind the Unified Egg Bowl are to foster interaction, inclusion and understanding about intellectual disabilities,” said Tony Bahou, President and CEO of Special Olympics Mississippi. “It’s a great way for our athletes to have fun while showing the world that even though we like our sports rivalries, Mississippi is unified in support of Special Olympics.”
Fans of both schools can also use this opportunity to donate funds that will be used to establish Special Olympics programs on the campuses of both Ole Miss and Mississippi State. The school that raises the most money will get a three-point advantage to start the game. The online hub of activity for donations, event information and other materials is UnifiedEggBowl.org.
For more information on the Special Olympics Unified Egg Bowl, please visit www.unifiedeggbowl.org.
Special Olympics Mississippi became one of the first pilot programs after Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver visited Ellisville State School in Jones County in 1968, and was officially incorporated and recognized by the state in August 1975, making 2015 the organization’s 40th anniversary in Mississippi.
Today, Special Olympics Mississippi serves more than 3,000 athletes through a network of 17 multi-county areas and thousands of volunteers. Athletes compete locally at more than 50 events across the state, then statewide at the annual Summer Games and Fall Games. Athletes can then advance to the national and international levels of competition.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports Information