The 5 Most Memorable Pro Bowl Moments
Of all the "All-Star Games" in sports, the NFL's Pro Bowl is probably the laughingstock of them all.
Due to its timing the week before the Super Bowl, players from the two participating teams cannot play due to risk of injury before the big game. In recent years, other players have simply chosen not to show up, passing up a trip to places like Hawaii and Orlando. The NFL has done everything in its power to rejuvenate the game in the past decade, changing the format, the date, and location, all to mixed reviews.
Despite this, the Pro Bowl has seen some wonderful and memorable moments in its history.
5. The "Idiot Kicker" interview
Rarely do you ever see Peyton Manning show emotion like this. Rarely does anyone at the Pro Bowl have any reason to show much emotion at all. But at the 2002 game, Manning had good reason to be upset. He was still in the "can't win big games" phase of his career (which he eventually got out of, so yes, Lamar Jackson, there is hope), and had just come off a brutal 41-0 loss to the Jets (yes, really) in the Divisional Playoff. On top of that, teammate and kicker Mike Vanderjagt criticized him for his perceived lack of leadership during an interview on Canadian cable network The Score. Just before that year's Pro Bowl, Manning fired back during his own interview.
"I'm out at my third Pro Bowl, I'm about to go in and throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice, we're honoring the Hall of Fame, and we're talking about our idiot kicker who got liquored up and ran his mouth off," said Manning. "The sad thing is, he's a good kicker. He's a good kicker. But he's an idiot."
4. "Yes, there are penalties in the Pro Bowl."
Ed Hochuli is maybe the most well-liked (read: least despised) official in the NFL. Maybe it's because he screws up less than the others. Perhaps it's his overenthusiastic gesticulations.
Or maybe it's moments like this:
3. Jack Youngblood plays with a broken leg...again
When you think of toughness and bravery in the NFL, you certainly think of Jack Youngblood. The highlight of his 14-year career was leading the Los Angeles Rams to Super Bowl XIV despite playing with a fractured tibia throughout the majority of the playoffs.
But that wasn't enough for Youngblood. He also flew to Hawaii and played in the Pro Bowl the following week, an altogether meaningless game he had every right to skip. Not only did he play, he had two sacks. Wow.
2. Peyton Manning and Jeff Saturday share one last snap
As mentioned above, the Pro Bowl melts the barriers between teams, if only for one day. Only in the Pro Bowl could you see Peyton Manning throw a touchdown to Jerry Rice (though that never actually happened).
For one special play in the 2012 Pro Bowl, the bond between conferences melted.
Before the two players went their separate ways in 2012, Jeff Saturday had snapped the ball to Peyton Manning since 1999. The 2013 Pro Bowl would be Saturday's last NFL game, and he wanted to share one more snap with Manning before he went. Believe it or not, he switched sides for one play to make this happen. (Saturday was on the Packers for his final NFL season in 2012)
1. Sean Taylor makes Brian Moorman pay for fakery
Early in the 2007 game, the AFC team decided to run a fake punt despite holding a seven-point lead...because I guess why not? Bills punter Brian Moorman nearly got the seven yards he needed before he ran into a truck wearing the number 21.