Team Irvin Wins, St. Louis Rams Undeafeated In New Pro Bowl Era

While many, including myself, believe that the NFL should put the Pro Bowl out of its misery by cancelling the once-prestigious event, thousands of fans still tuned in for the festivities last night. In the University of Arizona’s stadium, which also hosts the Arizona Cardinals and will host the upcoming Super Bowl, fans of all teams packed the seats as Team Irvin vs. Team Carter faced-off. Last year, the NFL made a drastic change to the formatting, ditching the historied AFC vs. NFC format and switching towards a “best player available,” draft-style game featuring of the top talents in the league.

In 2014, two St. Louis Rams made the cut for the inaugural “new” Pro Bowl; Robert Quinn and Johnny Hekker. Unlike roughly 50% of the roster that played last night, both Rams players were “first-team” selections, making the cut as top vote-getters, as opposed to second- or third-option alternates. In fact, Quinn was one of the top voted defensive players in the grouping in 2014, leading to him captaining for Team Rice. Rice and Quinn would make it a point to select Hekker during the draft, and go on to win the game in an impressive 22-21 comeback victory over Team Sanders.

This year, Johnny Hekker was snubbed from the Pro Bowl in favor of a no-name punter out of Baltimore with average, at best, numbers. However, even the voters somewhat redeemed themselves by naming Aaron Donald as one of three “original” rookie invitees to the game. Just like in the previous year, the St. Louis Rams would stick together, with Donald and Quinn both slotted on Team Irvin for the night. In the end, Matt Ryan and the black-and-orange would complete the comeback in Arizona, making Robert Quinn and, by association, the St. Louis Rams 2-0 in the new Pro Bowl era.

Hopefully, last night was an indication on how the “Year of the Ram” (i.e. 2015 in the Chinese calendar) will go. Lets hope those lucky golden horns saved a little juice for free agency, the Draft, and the offseason.

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