2021 Pro Bowl
| Date | January 31, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Stadium | Game canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alternative festivities were held in its place. |
The 2021 Pro Bowl was a National Football League all-star game for the 2020 NFL season that was originally scheduled to be held on January 31, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL canceled the Pro Bowl game in October 2020, and deferred Las Vegas's hosting of the game to 2022.
The league then announced plans to still conduct the fan vote to determine the Pro Bowl roster, and organized alternative festivities honoring them, including Verzuz battles and a virtual Pro Bowl on the original date of the game, featuring NFL players and celebrity participants controlling the players in Madden NFL 21.
Background
The original site for the game was announced on June 16, 2020. The Las Vegas Raiders' home Allegiant Stadium's bid won out over Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, and SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles metro area.[1]
On October 14, 2020, the league decided to cancel the game amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and Allegiant Stadium was awarded the 2022 Pro Bowl instead.[2] The league further announced that the Pro Bowl rosters for the 2020 season would still be voted upon, and that they would instead hold alternative events to honor the players chosen.[3] Voting began on November 17, 2020, on the NFL's website and Madden NFL 21, and on Twitter starting on December 1. Voting on all platforms then ended on December 17 with the rosters being announced on December 21.[4][5]
Alternative festivities
The NFL partnered with Verzuz to air a series of Pro Bowl "highlight battles" from January 26 through 29.[6]
ABC, ESPN, and Disney XD aired a television special on January 31 at 3 p.m. ET in place of the game—the Pro Bowl Celebration—which was presented by ESPN's NFL studio analysts, and featured segments and interviews honoring the Pro Bowl roster.[7][8][9] hosted by Michael Strahan and Charissa Thompson. From their respective homes, in order, quarterback Deshaun Watson, former wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, running back Derrick Henry, and Snoop Dogg each played one quarter as the AFC team, while quarterback Kyler Murray, NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, strong safety Jamal Adams, and former running back Marshawn Lynch each played one quarter as the NFC team.[10]
Virtual game box score
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| NFC | 7 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 32 |
at N/A (Madden NFL 21)
- Date: January 31, 2021
- Game time: 5:00 p.m. EST
- Source: NFL Pro Bowl: Madden '21 Edition on YouTube
AFC roster
Offense
Defense
| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Defensive end | 97 Joey Bosa, LA Chargers 95 Myles Garrett, Cleveland |
55 Frank Clark, Kansas City |
| Defensive tackle | 97 Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh 95 Chris Jones, Kansas City |
93 Calais Campbell, Baltimore |
| Outside linebacker | 55 Bradley Chubb, Denver 44 Myles Jack, Jacksonville 90 T. J. Watt, Pittsburgh |
99 Matthew Judon, Baltimore |
| Inside linebacker | 53 Darius Leonard, Indianapolis | 49 Tremaine Edmunds, Buffalo |
| Cornerback | 25 Xavien Howard, Miami 27 Tre'Davious White, Buffalo |
24 Stephon Gilmore, New England 44 Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore |
| Free safety | 39 Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh | 31 Justin Simmons, Denver |
| Strong safety | 32 Tyrann Mathieu, Kansas City |
Special teams
| Position | Starter(s) |
|---|---|
| Punter | 7 Jake Bailey, New England |
| Placekicker | 9 Justin Tucker, Baltimore |
| Return specialist | 18 Andre Roberts, Buffalo |
| Special teams | 18 Matthew Slater, New England |
| Long snapper | 46 Morgan Cox, Baltimore |
NFC roster
Offense
| Position(s) | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | 12 Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay 12 Tom Brady, Tampa Bay |
3 Russell Wilson, Seattle 1 Kyler Murray, Arizona |
| Running back | 33 Dalvin Cook, Minnesota 41 Alvin Kamara, New Orleans |
33 Aaron Jones, Green Bay 28 Leonard Fournette, Tampa Bay |
| Fullback | 44 Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco | |
| Wide receiver | 17 Davante Adams, Green Bay 10 DeAndre Hopkins, Arizona 12 Allen Robinson, Chicago |
14 DK Metcalf, Seattle 18 Justin Jefferson, Minnesota 13 Mike Evans, Tampa Bay |
| Tight end | 88 T. J. Hockenson, Detroit | 88 Evan Engram, NY Giants 87 Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay |
| Offensive tackle | 69 David Bakhtiari, Green Bay 71 Trent Williams, San Francisco |
72 Terron Armstead, New Orleans 71 Ryan Ramczyk, New Orleans 74 D.J. Humphries, Arizona |
| Offensive guard | 75 Brandon Scherff, Washington 74 Elgton Jenkins, Green Bay |
75 Andrus Peat, New Orleans 74 Ali Marpet, Tampa Bay 64 Alex Cappa, Tampa Bay |
| Center | 62 Jason Kelce, Philadelphia | 77 Frank Ragnow, Detroit |
Defense
| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Defensive end | 94 Cameron Jordan, New Orleans 55 Brandon Graham, Philadelphia |
99 Chase Young, Washington |
| Defensive tackle | 99 Aaron Donald, LA Rams 91 Fletcher Cox, Philadelphia |
93 Javon Hargrave, Philadelphia |
| Outside linebacker | 55 Za'Darius Smith, Green Bay 52 Khalil Mack, Chicago |
90 Jason Pierre-Paul, Tampa Bay |
| Inside linebacker | 54 Bobby Wagner, Seattle | 54 Fred Warner, San Francisco |
| Cornerback | 20 Jalen Ramsey, LA Rams 23 Jaire Alexander, Green Bay |
23 Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans 24 James Bradberry, NY Giants |
| Free safety | 37 Quandre Diggs, Seattle | |
| Strong safety | 32 Budda Baker, Arizona | 33 Jamal Adams, Seattle |
Special teams
| Position | Starter(s) |
|---|---|
| Punter | 3 Jack Fox, Detroit |
| Placekicker | 3 Ryan Succop, Tampa Bay |
| Return specialist | 84 Cordarrelle Patterson, Chicago |
| Special teams | 44 Nick Bellore, Seattle |
| Long snapper | 69 Tyler Ott, Seattle |
Number of selections per team
|
|
References
- ^ Richard Bilbao. "Orlando Eyes Yet Another Year Of The Pro Bowl". Orlando Business Journal. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ "NFL to reimagine 2021 Pro Bowl; '22 Pro Bowl awarded to Las Vegas". www.nfl.com. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ Smith, Michael David (October 14, 2020). "Pro Bowl will not be played this season". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ Rapp, Timothy. "NFL Announces Format, Schedule, Voting for Virtual Madden 21 Pro Bowl". Bleacher Report. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ Around the NFL Staff. "NFL reveals complete AFC, NFC rosters for 2021 Pro Bowl". NFL.com. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
- ^ "NFL teams up with Verzuz for first-ever "NFL Pro Bowl Verzuz presented by Verizon"". NFL.com. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ "The "Pro Bowl Celebration" seems like it will mostly be highlights and interviews". Awful Announcing. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ "The 2021 Pro Bowl Celebration presented by Verizon Premieres Sunday, Jan. 31, at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC and Disney XD". ESPN Press Room U.S. 2021-01-28. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
- ^ Nguyen, Kevin (November 17, 2020). "The NFL Pro Bowl will be hosted in Madden this season". The Verge. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
- ^ Rothstein, Michael (January 25, 2021). "Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Jamal Adams, Derrick Henry playing virtual Pro Bowl using Madden NFL 21". ESPN. Retrieved January 28, 2021.