(LOS ANGELES, California) – Two coaching legends will face off in the newest bowl game to feature the best collegiate football players.

Dick Vermeil and Tom Flores will coach the two teams of all-stars in the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on January 21st in Los Angeles at The Home Depot Center.

Vermeil, who has the distinction of being named Coach of the Year at four levels including high school, junior college, NCAA Division I, and professional football, will participate in the game.

Vermeil became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976 after being the first special teams coach in NFL history for the LA Rams and then head coach for UCLA. Vermeil then spent 15 years as a sportscaster. He returned to coaching in 1997 with the St. Louis Rams and won Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999. He retired the following year, but returned to coaching with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2001, where he stayed until 2006.

Flores played from 1960-1969 with the Raiders, Bills, and Chiefs. After serving as an assistant coach with Buffalo and Oakland, he became the Raiders head coach in 1979 after John Madden retired. He coached the Raiders from 1979-1987 and the Seattle Seahawks from 1992-1994. Flores was the first Hispanic player to play in a Super Bowl and the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl. Flores won Super Bowl XV and Super Bowl XVIII as a head coach.

This is not the first time the two coaching legends have squared off. Most notably, the Raiders, coached by Flores, defeated the Eagles, coach by Vermeil in Super Bowl XV in 1980.

Standout players and coaches, both active and former, will come together from the top professional and collegiate ranks to help 100 draft-eligible players showcase their talent on the NBC Sports Network and in front of 25,000 fans and scouts.

The AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl will be more than just an all-star game for participants as the week-long educational experience will provide them with valuable information on how to succeed both on and off the field.

The Home Depot Center has hosted some of the finest competitions in international athletics, where AstroTurf will unveil an innovative field.

The field surface is the all new AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D60 Extreme. The field combines a monofilament Horseshoe fiber with a slit film product. The Horseshoe fiber has an Omega-shape, which is more resilient and bounces back, staying upright longer. It also reflects less light and heat. The slit film offers the ultimate in durability. The field also has a face weight of 60 ounces of fiber per square yard, the highest in the industry. This adds to the durability provided by the fiber shape.

In extensive testing, AstroTurf GameDay Grass systems perform most like natural grass from ball roll, to slide resistance, to the biomechanical function of cleats penetrating and releasing properly. A study at Michigan State University, funded by NFL Charities, found that AstroTurf GameDay Grass systems looked and performed more like natural grass than any other synthetic product measured, also making it the safest option.

The field features AstroFlect heat reduction technology, which can lower surface temperatures by as much as 18%.

The field also has RootZone, a thatch layer which holds the sand and rubber infill in place for less splash and migration, making for a more consistent playing surface.

The field rests atop an all new AstroBase system, 15,000 interlocking panels which will provide stability for the field, allow for better drainage, and decrease installation time.

Easy Grass LLC, Florida’s fastest growing provider of sythetic turf systems for sports and landscape, serves as the Astro Turf distributor for South Florida and the Caribbean.

For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf has redefined the way the game is played. The company offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies, leveraging the industry’s first vertically integrated manufacturing system. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit www.easygrass.net or www.astroturfusa.com.

MIAMI, FL— Easy Grass LLC, a major southeast distributor for SYNLawn®, the world leader in residential and landscape synthetic turf, announces a new initiative with one of America’s greatest national parks.

Universal Textile Technologies(UTT), a SynLawn® affiliate,  announced a new environmental initiative to include bottles collected from Grand Teton National Park into its manufacturing process. UTT converts the plastic bottles into a non-woven fleece material used to manufacture high-performance environmentally friendly backing for the SYNLawn® synthetic turf products for landscape. Now termed the PET Park Project, UTT is working in partnership with The Grand Teton National Park, Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling, Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling CPE, Inc. and the United Soybean Board.

“This new initiative further demonstrates SYNLawn’s commitment to produce the finest, most realistic synthetic turf products that are both earth friendly in usage and in composition as well, states Bernie Torra, Partner with Easy Grass”. “ To partner with one of the most recognized and cherished national parks in the country solidifies SYNLawn’s determination to create awareness for the powerful eco friendly attributes of today’s synthetic grass”, Torra added.

Americans generate an enormous amount of waste material every day. In the Grand Teton National Park, millions of visitors are educated on the positive aspects of recycling, including plastic bottles. This new partnership, called the PET Park Project, promotes the reuse of discarded plastic bottles, significantly reduces the amount of bottles that go to the landfill, and helps the park meet their recycling goals.

UTT then incorporates the use of recycled bottles to manufacture BioCel and EnviroCel, environmentally-friendly, performance-based polyurethane backing systems for SynLawn synthetic grass for landscape. Both BioCel and EnviroCel utilize recycled plastic bottles, combined with naturally renewable soybean-based polyols derived from domestically grown soybeans. UTT is a leader in the use of soy to reduce the petroleum content in its backing. The use of soy-based products and recycled plastics converted stateside help to support the U.S. economy and create American jobs.

Many of the recyclable plastics collected in America are sold overseas, where they are used to produce plastic products that are later sold in the U.S. This partnership will help produce American jobs by allowing American workers to convert the bottles and decrease the carbon footprint required in transportation overseas.

“Grand Teton National Park has proven its commitment to promoting beneficial environmental stewardship practices, and the PET Park Project is an excellent example of how private companies can work with the National Park Service to find innovative recycling solutions that benefit all of us,” Margaret Wilson, Grand Teton National Park’s Planner & amp;Sustainability Coordinator.

The partnership represents a model system that can help increase the demand for recycled content in American-made products. With the help of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Americans are now able to purchase carpets featuring recycled content from the parks, and includes American-grown, soy-based technology that displaces a large portion of the petroleum components.

These exciting, environmentally-friendly backing technologies assist in LEED® certification. BioCel and EnviroCel are resistant to moisture, insulate against energy loss, reduce ambient noise, and increase the structural integrity of carpet and synthetic turf.

“On average, two bottles out of 10 are recycled in America today, and our objective is to increase this number. We hope the PET Park Project will increase awareness of the many opportunities for Americans to participate,” said Doug Giles, director of marketing for Universal Textile Technologies. “We are excited to be a part of this project and look forward to continuing our partnership with the National Park Service.”

About Easy Grass:

Easy Grass, LLC is Florida’s largest artificial grass company and exclusive SYNLawn supplier for synthetic grass lawns, putting greens, playground surfacing as well as commercial and military landscaping in Florida, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Easy Grass’s impressive resume of installations include: Fontainebleau Resort Miami Beach, the Villas by Barton G (former Versace mansion), Miami Dade Public Schools, The EPIC Residences and Hotel Downtown Miami, USA Charter Schools, and the cities of Coral Gables, Virginia Gardens, Miami Beach and Homestead.  Easy Grass is a member of the Synthetic Turf Council, Association of Synthetic Grass Installers, and Sports Turf Managers Association.  For more information, visit www.easygrass.net

About Synlawn:

SYNLawn is the industry innovator ofsynthetic grass. Their lush and livable synthetic grass systems have transformed the way synthetic grass is used, producing the most advanced and performance oriented putting surfaces and synthetic landscaping solutions in the market. SYNLawn® uses exclusive nylon technologies to produce unmatched solutions for synthetic landscape, golf, pet and playground systems. SYNLawn‘s grass products are 100% recyclable and lead compliant. For more information, visit www.synlawn.com