Pro Bowl players want game to stay in Hawaii
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HONOLULU -- Many NFL stars are hoping that when it comes to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, aloha doesn't mean goodbye.
The NFL all-star game doesn't have a home beyond today's game. League and Hawaii officials are negotiating a deal to keep the game in the islands, which is hosting it for the second straight year after it was played in Miami in 2010, breaking a 30-year run in Hawaii.
"It takes away from the game when it's somewhere else," said Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall, who also was selected to the Miami game two years ago. "It's always a privilege. It's always an honor to be selected to a Pro Bowl. But this is what the Pro Bowl is about -- paradise."
Some players went as far as saying they wouldn't participate if the Pro Bowl was moved.
- Game: AFC vs. NFC, Honolulu.
- When: 7 p.m.
- TV: WPXI.
- Of note: Steelers on the AFC roster: Ben Roethlisberger, Mike Wallace, Antonio Brown, Ryan Clark and James Harrison.
"That's a lot of the players' attitude, I think. If it's in an NFL city, you're in those cities quite often," Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said.
Allen and other players said the game belongs in Hawaii, where it's more family-oriented, relaxed and considered a reward for the hard work they put it during the season.
Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew's first Pro Bowl was in Miami, which he said was a great experience.
"But it's nothing like coming over to Hawaii. This is my first time here for the Pro Bowl, and it's great," he said.
In Hawaii, the players are treated to a beachside hotel to themselves. They sip tropical drinks and lounge at the pool, golf or wade in one of the lagoons at Ko Olina Resort.
"In Miami, we didn't have the whole hotel. You're signing autographs 99 percent of the time at the hotel. It was just chaotic," Allen said. "... I'm a big fan of tradition. It started here. We should keep it here."
But the Pro Bowl wasn't born here. It was hosted for years in Los Angeles before jumping around the country in the 1970s, going everywhere from the Kingdome in Seattle to the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
The game was first played at Aloha Stadium in 1980 with New Orleans Saints running back Chuck Muncie leading the NFC to a 37-27 victory. The winners earned $5,000. Today, the winners earn nearly 10 times that amount.
The state is paying the NFL $4 million per game for the rights to hold this year's game. About seven months ago, Gov. Neil Abercrombie opposed the cash-strapped state paying millions to host the Pro Bowl when the money could be used for education.
"You can't do things like give 4 million bucks to a $9 billion football industry and not give any money to children," Abercrombie said then. On Tuesday, however, Abercrombie changed his tune when he crashed the NFL's press conference and spoke in favor of keeping the game here.
A House economic development committee on Thursday discussed establishing a Hawaii Sports Task Force to coordinate efforts to keep the Pro Bowl in Hawaii and attract other pro sporting events. Last year's Pro Bowl brought 17,000 visitors to the state, generated $28.2 million in visitor spending and created $3.1 million in state taxes from those who traveled to the game.
First Published January 29, 2012 12:00 am
