Sacramento’s Pig Bowl football game will benefit first responders who lost homes in LA fires
The Pig Bowl is back, and the 51st annual charity game featuring grizzled and proud men trying to recapture a glimpse of their football past, some in their 40s, endures because it has deeper meaning than touchdown drives and goal-line stands.
It’s about giving back, about charity, about helping those who have lost loved ones on the front lines of civic duty, be it a shooting or in a burning building. This is the longest such game in the country, with Sacramento-area law enforcement players competing against regional firefighters.
Though the game may on occasion feature more punts than scoring drives, it has served a valuable purpose, rooted in sentiment and legacy.
The Pig Bowl has raised nearly $2 million over the decades for local and state charities. Proceeds for Saturday’s 1 p.m. showdown between the law enforcement Hogs and the fire department Fire Dogs at Hughes Stadium will go to 40 Southern California law and fireman first responders who lost their homes in the recent wildfires that engulfed Los Angeles County.
This game has been played in all kinds of weather — wind and rain, mud and muck — and it has had surges of large crowds of 15,000 or even 25,000-plus filling Hughes Stadium, and small ones at a local high school as interest waned. Last season’s 50th game drew nearly 8,500 and was played under clear skies.
That is the forecast for Saturday at Sacramento City College with light breezes and a boatload of fun with VIP tents and places for children to run and play. What could go wrong? The place will be crawling with cops and firemen. It’ll be the most secure venue in the region with emotions varying from appreciation to anguish of missing a loved one.
“This game and cause is close to my heart, and it’s to honor the fallen heroes in fire and law,” Pig Bowl game director Cary Trzcinski said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for firemen. Our jobs are different but both are extremely dangerous, and we often work together on a scene.”
A retired deputy with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, Trzcinski played in 13 Pig Bowls as a fullback and linebacker. He has worked tirelessly the last two years to keep this game relevant, meeting with coaches, players, sponsors and parents of responders who were killed in the line of duty.
Trzcinski and an army of other Pig Bowl players from the past were last season inducted into the Pig Bowl Hall of Fame.
Trzcinski said players in the Pig Bowl always think of someone they have lost. Everyone can relate. One of the fallen officers is Vacaville police Officer Matthew Bowen, who was killed in the line of duty on July 11.
The game will also honor Ken Harbuck, a former Sacramento State football player and local law enforcement officer who died of cancer in 2008. He wore jersey No. 51, which matches the anniversary of this game.
For Trzcinski, he said he will think of Vu Nguyen, a member of the Sheriff’s Office’s gang unit, a partner and a friend who was shot and killed by a gang member in Sacramento in 2007. Trzcinski played the 2008 Pig Bowl in Vu’s honor.
“I do this because of Vu,” Trzcinski said. “I think of him all the time. We do this game to honor him and others we’ve lost and for their families. They’re not forgotten.”
The Laffan family will be on the minds of Pig Bowl players, too.
Caden Laffan, who played football at Christian Brothers High School and at Sacramento City College, competed in the 50th Pig Bowl as a member of the Oakland Fire Department. He said after last year’s game that he competed in the milestone Pig Bowl game to honor his father, Sean Laffan, an Oakland fire Assistant Chief, who died in the line of duty in 2022 at age 42.
Caden Laffan in June drowned while preparing for the California Summer Firefighter Games. He was 25.
His mother and his father’s widow, Sabrina Laffan, will be at Saturday’s game.
“It’s just tragic, another reason we do this game, so these men are not forgotten,” Trzcinski said.
51st Pig Bowl
Who: Law enforcement vs. Firefighters
When: Saturday, 1 p.m.
Where: Hughes Stadium at Sacramento City College.
Why: For charity and to honor those lost on the front lines.
Tickets: $10 (can be purchased online at pigbowl.org)
This story was originally published January 23, 2025 at 12:30 PM.