UNC Football: Antoine Green is headed to the Shrine Bowl

Jan 28, 2023 - 2:00 PM

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UNC wide receiver Antoine Green will participate in the East West Shine Bowl, February 2nd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. The Shrine Bowl is a postseason showcase for invited seniors to practice and play in front of NFL teams, giving players another opportunity to show out before the NFL Combine and subsequent Draft.

This represents a tremendous opportunity for Antoine Green who missed the Holiday Bowl with an injury, even though he planned on playing. Draftniks rate Green anywhere from a day 3 pick to an undrafted free agent, so there’s an opportunity at hand to move up on team draft boards.

Green made a wise choice returning to Carolina for a bonus fifth year. Even though he missed five games (including the bowl game), Antoine Green had career highs in receptions (43), yards (798, which would easily be 1,000+ if he didn’t miss any games), and touchdowns (7, +2 from the previous year when he played 13 games). He finishes his Tar Heel career with 90 catches for 1,710 yards and 15 TDs.

Opposite star receiver Josh Downs, Green was able to become Drake Maye’s most reliable deep ball threat and had clutch catches against Duke to win the game in Durham and take NC State to overtime, the latter on fourth down. He also had a season full of huge chunk plays, most notably for two touchdowns in the Notre Dame loss.

Green will have a chance to impress Brandon Anderson’s beloved Atlanta Falcons coaching staff (and Tar Heel alum Arthur Smith) during four practices, beginning today. On game day, all 32 teams will have reps at Allegiant Stadium.

For any Tar Heels in the greater Las Vegas area, this is an excellent chance to get inside the Raiders’ Death Star-esque stadium. I took the tour when I was in town to see Kentucky beat the dog shit out of us last season, and it is an absolutely breathtaking venue. Hopefully UNC will be there for the 2028 Final Four.