NFC gets defensive, wins Pro Bowl 23-17

By: Larry Fitzgerald
Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder
Originally posted 2/14/2006

Honolulu, Hawaii —- This year’s Pro Bowl game, the annual NFL All-Star Classic, was the 56th meeting, matching the greatest players in the world for the 27th time in sun-splashed Honolulu, Hawaii. The NFC dominated on defense, forcing six turnovers highlighted by Derrick Brooks of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers returning a Trent Green pass 59 yards for a touchdown that helped the NFC win 23-17.

 

Brooks, playing in his ninth Pro Bowl game, was selected as the game’s MVP and received a 2006 Cadillac Escalade. The winning NFC players received $40,000 per man; the AFC players get $20,000. “We were in a man defense,” said Brooks, “and I was sitting back there and made the play on the ball. In this game there are so many rules, to see a little defense being played is a good thing, so I was not surprised that we played well at all.”

 

This meeting marks the 36th time the AFC has met the NFC, with the AFC and NFC now tied in the series at 18-18. The game has been played at Aloha Stadium every year since 1980, where the AFC has won 14 of the 27 meetings in sunny Hawaii. This year’s Pro Bowl featured 35 first-time players, 16 from the NFC and 14 on the AFC squad.

 

Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals helped ignite the NFC’s comeback by making a spectacular leaping catch of a 32-yard Michael Vick pass in traffic along the right sideline and returning a reverse for 12 yards.

 

 Fitzgerald, at 22 among the game’s youngest and brightest stars, tied Carolina’s talented Steve Smith for the NFL lead in receptions with 103. “I’m really happy we won. Overall, it was a great experience,” Fitzgerald said.

 

The Indianapolis Colts had the most Pro Bowl players with eight; Seattle, which lost last week’s Super Bowl 21-10 to Pittsburgh, had seven players. The Minnesota Vikings were represented by Darren Sharper, who intercepted a pass, and Koren Robinson, the league’s top punt returner. Green Bay for the first time had no players in the Pro Bowl.

 

Historical note: February is Black history month. Because Larry Fitzgerald Jr. played in the Pro Bowl, I became the first journalist in the 56-year history of the Pro Bowl game to cover his son in the NFL All-Star game, representing the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder and the National Programming Network/WCCO/KMOJ and WMIN radio.

 

 

Fitz Notes & Quotes

 

If you had the opportunity of reading my last two columns on the poor hiring practices of NFL owners when it comes to hiring Black head coaches, obviously the league took note. Art Shell was hired last week as the seventh Black head coach in the NFL. Shell returns to the Oakland Raiders, where he coached from 1989 to 1994. He has a record of 56-41 and has been working for the NFL league office the last three years.

 

The trial date for Vikings star Daunte Culpepper and Moe Williams in the now-famous Love Boat Cruise incident on Lake Minnetonka has been set for April 18. Culpepper and Williams will be represented by maybe the best criminal attorney in the state, Joe Friedberg.

 

Former Vikings star Warren Moon, the fourth-leading passer in NFL history, becomes the first Black quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His legacy as a minority quarterback cannot be underestimated.

 

When Moon finally arrived in the NFL after winning five Greg Cups (league championships) in the Canadian Football League, there were only two Black star quarterbacks in the NFL who were starters, James Harris of the Los Angeles Rams and Doug Williams of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moon was not drafted by any NFL team coming out of college after leading the University of Washington to the Rose Bowl Championship. He played 17 years in the NFL and was selected to the Pro Bowl nine times.