Darrell Reid and Rian Melander Get Shrine Game Nod

Minnesota seniors Darrell Reid and Rian Melander will play on the East team in the 80th Annual East-West Shrine Game. The 2005 edition of America's premier college all-star game will be played at SBC Park in San Francisco on Saturday, January 15, 2005. Kickoff will be at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) and telecast nationally on ESPN.

Darrell Reid and Rian Melander will see several familiar faces in the game, as 12 fellow Big Ten players will also play for the East team in the Shrine Game. They will be joined by kicker Dave Rayner of Michigan State, quarterback Kyle Orton and wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield of Purdue, defensive back Jim Leonhard from Wisconsin, defensive back Andrew Guman from Penn State, defensive back Markus Curry of Michigan, defensive back Dustin Fox and linebacker Simon Fraser from Ohio State, offensive lineman Pete McMahon and defensive lineman Derreck Robinson of Iowa, offensive linemen Bucky Babcock and Duke Preston from Illinois.

Joe Tiller of Purdue University and Oregon State University's Mike Riley will lead the East and West squads respectively. Tiller becomes only the fifth man in Shrine Game history to have both played in and been head coach in the game. He played in the 39th East-West Shrine Game in 1963, as a tackle on the West squad from Montana State University.

Riley brings 30 years of coaching experience to the West sideline. He led the Beavers in 2003 to an 8-5 record and a Las Vegas Bowl Championship in his first year back at the school where he was also the head coach from 1997-98.

The 79th East-West Shrine Game, played on January 10, 2004, was won by the West 28-7 and included 40 players who were selected in the NFL Draft this past April, plus 50 who signed NFL free agent contracts after the draft. The top teams were well represented, as 19 Associated Press final top-25 teams had players in the Shrine Game. In all, 67 different schools had players featured, as well as every Division 1-A conference, 11 Division 1-AA schools and two Canadian universities.

Every year since 1925, the East West Shrine Game has been played to raise money and to help make the public aware of the expert orthopedic and burn care available, at NO cost, at all 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children throughout North America. To date, the game has raised more than $14 million for Shriners Hospitals, which has treated over 700,000 kids. For more information go to www.shrinegame.com