The Pro Bowl was played in University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. on Sunday. That's the same site for this Sunday's Super Bowl between the crotch-grabbing Seattle Seahawks and the ball-deflating New England Patriots.
The game will return to Honolulu after next season, but what happens after that has not been announced. The NFL can save expenses and produce a larger crowd by doubling up the game with the Super Bowl.
The official attendance for Sunday was 63,000. The Arizona Cardinals produced this sellout by offering tickets at close to regular-season prices to its season-ticket holders who couldn't afford the outrageous sum required for Super Bowl admission.
The AFC vs. NFC format was dropped for the game played in January 2014. The players were selected by voting without regard to conference. Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders were designated to choose up sides. Cris Carter and Michael Irvin did the same for Sunday's game.
The final score was Team Irvin 32, Team Carter 28. Allegedly, a good time was had by all.
That was what the Associated Press game story indicated, anyway, with this passage: "The Pro Bowl in the desert was all about having a good time.
"Few moved very fast, no one flattened a quarterback and there were no bone-jarring hits in the gentle, friendly version of football played Sunday."
I watched for a few minutes at the start. On the game's third play, DeMarco Murray — playing for one team — ran to the left side and was held up by three players from the other team. He was not tackled, simply detained for a second, and a whistle blew to stop play.