2007 Pro Bowl
This year’s NFL Pro Bowl will not be held at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu where the game has been played since 1979. Instead, the not-so-big game will be held on January 31st at Dolphin Stadium in Miami where the Colts and Saints will take the field just one week later for Super Bowl XLIV.
Moving the game between playoffs and the Super Bowl means that 12 players (7 Colts and 5 Saints) will not take the field for the Pro Bowl because of their commitments to the big game on February 7th. Vic Carucci, NFL.com Senior Columnist, says that “having it before the Super Bowl is a little weird, but the thing I do like about it is that it has created more conversation than any other Pro Bowl I’ve been around in recent memory. I mean…the fact that it’s here has everyone talking about it.” (Link to video- http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-pro-bowl/09000d5d815f9200/Super-Debate-Pro-Bowl)
Everyone is also talking about two key players in this year’s Super Bowl, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. The quarterbacks were voted as starters, but will not take the field on the 31st. Manning’s Indianapolis Colts were the top represented team in the AFC with six players, five of which are starters, and none of them will play.
Because of the move, the game originally thought to be played on February 14th, will no longer compete against the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, the second full day of competition in the 2010 Winter Olympics, and the 52nd running of the Daytona 500.