Bud Dupree co-founding Next Play Showcase to give college players verified NFL evaluation
The veteran edge rusher is launching a platform with Sports Academy that debuts in January 2027 in Melissa, Texas.
NFL veteran edge rusher Bud Dupree is lending his name — and his network — to the next generation. Dupree is co-founding the Next Play Showcase, a new platform built to give college football players verified evaluation and exposure opportunities in front of NFL decision-makers.
Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet): A cool new initiative: NFL veteran Bud Dupree is co-founding the Next Play Showcase, a new platform designed to provide college football players with verified evaluation and exposure opportunities. Sports Academy will serve as the strategic operating partner for the inaugural event in January 2027 in Melissa, Texas.
Sports Academy will serve as the strategic operating partner for the inaugural event, scheduled for January 2027 in Melissa, Texas. The timing slots the showcase into the pre-draft calendar, giving prospects another sanctioned stop between their bowl seasons and the scouting combine circuit.
For Dupree, a nine-year veteran whose career began as a first-round pick in Kentucky, the venture extends a recent trend of active and recently retired players building their own pipelines into the league — evaluation infrastructure once monopolized by agents and all-star games now increasingly player-owned.