Mark Cornelison / Lexington Herald-Leader / McClatchy Tribune
The Pro Bowl is all about last chances. It is the last chance for the players to suit up, the last chance for football fans to see a game before next season and it is the last chance for advertisers to make money from one of the biggest sports today.
All these are reasons for the Pro Bowl. Advertisers clean up as usual, fans fill the stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii and players get that last chance to make a game-changing play.
Being a football fan myself, I love the last chance to see a football game. Being a fan of more AFC teams than NFC, it is my duty to root on my boys.
Although I live and bleed AFC, it was the Cardinals I was counting on this year in the Super Bowl, but to my great disappointment they failed. There are many complaints a person can have over the outcome of Super Bowl XLIII. My complaint is about Larry Fitzgerald̢۪s Pro Bowl performance.
Although Fitzgerald̢۪s performance in the Super Bowl was nothing short of 110 percent, his Pro Bowl performance outdid it.
Larry Fitzgerald did have better numbers in the Super Bowl as opposed to the Pro Bowl. He ended the 2009 season with no ring, but as a Pro Bowl MVP.
People may argue about how this is possible, but it is all about who can come through in the clutch, and that is what Fitzgerald did today. Fitzgerald̢۪s late, lead-changing touchdown reversed the tempo of the game.
I commend Fitzgerald on his performance and congratulate him on his MVP trophy, but I ask myself, where that late touchdown was last week against the Steelers. It was within reach and very possible. David Tyree did it last year against the undefeated New England Patriots, when the odds were much worse. That game defined clutch.
Well, Larry, this year is over. You’ve got yourself an MVP to prove you’re elite, but unfortunately your finger is still ringless. The question now is how you are going to get back to the biggest game of the year next year. Will your team come out of nowhere again? No expert will be picking it to win it all at the beginning of the season.
My advice to pro bowlers that played on the Super Bowl̢۪s losing team is stay home. Yes, it may be another chance at an MVP, but it doesn̢۪t change the fact that you lost the biggest game of the year.
And Larry, maybe we can schedule a meeting with the coach about getting you a young gun that can get you the ball in the clutch.
To access the Pro Bowl stats like Kurt Warner̢۪s meesley completion out of two passes with a total of eight yards click here.