For the first time since 1979, the Pro Bowl was not played in Hawaii last year. Instead, it was moved to Florida. In all likelihood, the Pro Bowl will no longer be played in Hawaii yearly, but rather every other year, or else once ever few years it will be played outside of Honolulu.
This year, however, it is back where it should be, at least in my mind and in the minds of many in my generation. Now, I don’t particularly care too much about the Pro Bowl. The only reason I’ve ever watched was because the red and blue jerseys with different helmets for each player just look cool. I’ve never watched an entire Pro Bowl, and I won’t tomorrow either. However, this is a special treat for the players who have stood out during the 2010 season, and so I’m going to put up a short post honoring them.
In the cases of most of the players, there is no surprise that they will be playing tomorrow. However, there are a few players who were not expecting to be in Hawaii and are now on the All-Star teams for various reasons, most notably in place of those competing in Super Bowl XLV next weekend. This is not a complete list of replacement players, but the following is a list of the 13 replacements named after the Conference Championship games were completed.
1. Safety – Eric Berry, Chiefs (Troy Polamalu, Steelers)
2. Safety – Roman Harper, Saints (Nick Collins, Packers)
3. Cornerback – Antoine Winfield, Vikings (Tramon Williams, Packers)
4. Cornerback – Brent Grimes, Falcons (Charles Woodson, Packers)
5. Linebacker – Tamba Hali, Chiefs (James Harrison, Steelers)
6. Linebacker – Jon Beason, Panthers (Lance Briggs, Bears (injury))
7. Linebacker – London Fletcher, Redskins (Brian Urlacher, Bears (injury))
8. Linebacker – Brian Orakpo, Redskins (Clay Matthews, Packers)
9. Defensive End – Randy Starks, Dolphins (Brett Keisel, Steelers)
10. Center – Alex Mack, Browns (Nick Mangold, Jets (injury))
11. Center – Jeff Saturday, Colts (Maurkice Pouncey, Steelers (Super Bowl & injury))
12. Offensive Tackle – Donald Penn, Buccaneers (Chad Clifton, Packers)
13. Wide Receiver – Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals (Greg Jennings, Packers)
If you are interested in a detailed roster, you can visit nfl.com. The link to the exact page is at the end of this post. The roster on that page is a detailed one. It has the entire list of players by position, by team (regular season, not AFC/NFC), and which players are not participating and for what reason. When you see that Brady is not on the list, remember that he just had foot surgery on Thursday.
One more note: since the Pro Bowl became NFC/AFC in 1971 (previously it had been East/West), the series is tied between the two conferences, 20-20. The NFC took the lead in the 1979 game and held the series lead until the AFC battled back and tied it in the 2002 Pro Bowl. The winner of tomorrow’s game has bragging rights on the line.
Tomorrow evening I’ll post a little blurb about the Pro Bowl, nothing long since I won’t be watching it, and Monday starts Super Bowl week. Later this evening will be a recap of some of this past week’s highlights. Thanks for reading!
AFC/NFC Pro Bowl Rosters can be seen at:
http://www.nfl.com/probowl/story/09000d5d81d470fb/article/2011-pro-bowl-rosters
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