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Stephen’s keeperGAME
LAS VEGAS – As Eli Manning ponders four Pro Bowl appearances, he doesn’t care whether his convention wins or loses, or how many yards he crosses.
the Old New York Giants quarterback can barely remember, if he’s being honest.
What came to mind instead was his daughter Caroline’s second birthday celebration at a hotel pool in Hawaii in 2016.
“I was like, ‘What can we do? “” Manning said this week. “So I invited all the players. I said, ‘Hey, the bar’s open for me from four o’clock on.’
“So a group of players came in. We had a group of kids playing by the pool and we all sang happy birthday to my 2-year-old, which she will never remember. But it was fun. And you tell her about those memories. I also have some pictures of it.”
The image of a large percentage of the NFL’s most elite players and their families singing happy birthday to Caroline Manning poolside may not be most people’s defining image of the Pro Bowl. But for Pro Bowl veterans like Eli and his brother Peyton, the most lasting memories are those related to the off-field experience.
This year’s Pro Bowl game will add to those memories. Eli and Peyton are NFC and AFC coaches respectively. The format is different from the skill contests and soccer games (Sunday, 3 to 6 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+) to decide the winners, but the experience is still memorable.
“It’s been great to be with all these guys, obviously the best players in the league,” said the 23-year-old midfielder. Trevor Lawrencewho just finished the second season with Jacksonville Jaguar.
Pro Bowl offers unique crossover of players like Saint New Orleans end defense jordan orange – a 12-year veteran who played in his seventh Pro Bowl – and a rookie like the New York Jets’ sauce maker.
Jordan remembers attending Pro Bowls in Hawaii with his father, former Minnesota Vikings tight ending Steve Jordan, who was selected six times.
“I could vaguely recall being a kid and losing my little bucket of sand in the ocean,” Jordan recalls. “And we had a babysitter at the time who had to go out and get it. And we had pictures of that. And now you have photographic evidence that you cried at the Pro Bowl when longer a 3 year old kid, or whatever I was.
“Been in Hawaii with my friends there, and now I have a son playing in the sand. Could it be all of 1? It’s like a full circle.”
Time together at the Pro Bowl can go in many different directions. As AFC defensive coordinator Ray Lewis shared, it can include insightful conversations with greats like the late Derrick Thomas. Or, with someone like Peyton, who has been selected to the Pro Bowl 14 times with Indianapolis University And Dancer broncosthat could mean you got it wrong about one of his actual jokes.
During the 2009 Pro Bowl, according to the Denver Post, Peyton recruited guides to attack Nick Mangold’s New York Jets and Chargers’ Kris Dielman unsuspectingly threw Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler into the hotel pool. Peyton was smart enough to distract Cutler and grab his phone before the prank so as not to damage the device, but the prank ultimately failed. Cutler, a Type 1 diabetic, has an electronic blood glucose meter in his pocket. The screen was ruined.
Peyton later said: “On our side, it was a lousy sound. “I think we thought we were right when we tried to get the phone. Then we realized he had injected insulin. We missed that.”
Cutler found a replacement and the week went by without interruption. For better or worse, Peyton is always present at the Pro Bowl.
“Peyton knows how to keep the court,” Eli said.
He’s still the same. Even among today’s biggest stars, he has a presence that surpasses most of them.
Meeting the legends is one of the things that tends to stand out for young Pro Bowlers. That’s what Lewis, Baltimore Crows Hall of Famer, recall the most.
“Reggie White once told me something that changed my perspective forever,” Lewis said. “He said, ‘Legends confirm myths.’ What he confirmed is, we tell you [when you’re a legend]. In this new age, we think it’s social media followers or this and that. But what he said is we’ll tell you when you’re great [giving] respect.”
He added, “I’m telling you, it’s just all of us sitting at the bar, it’s supposed to be recorded. It’s just conversations, man. They’re like podcasts about podcasts. its greatness and significance.”
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Diggs and Surtain get creative for the best entries
Stefon Diggs went to the pool, while Pat Surtain II used the zipline to aim for their best catch.
jet linebacker CJ Mosleywho was on his fifth Pro Bowl, recalled the impact of the first when he joined in 2014 as a rookie.
“It opened my eyes to seeing some of the other players, seeing some of the top players in the league, seeing their work ethic, just hanging around friends,” Mosley said. my peers as a young rookie. “von MillerIt was probably a normal day for him, but not for me.
“Just looking at his style, he was very comfortable in the dressing room. He had a loud speaker that played music. He made sure everyone was laughing and he always kept a good atmosphere. Just seeing him, and seeing all the older players react to that and in fact, it’s like relaxation and comfort, it helps set the mood for me because I don’t know what’s going to happen. I came in like, to get me ready for the real workout, but the people were really, really relaxed.”
Comfortable vibes can lead to more kind-hearted stupidity, and not just by Peyton.
Example: Veterans are known to have secretly billed huge bills and restaurant fees for younger Pro Bowlers hotel rooms. It’s a tradition Lewis first experienced when he discovered a $13,000 bill at the team’s one-year hotel check-out (he declined to disclose the culprit). And it was a tradition he happily continued by teasing other young players in the years that followed.
There will certainly be similar pranks going on this weekend, though if Thursday’s skill contest is any indication, there won’t be any semi-serious contests the weekend.
“We need to win,” Peyton said. “I don’t want to hear it all five words [Eli] about losing this contest.
“We have an incredible team, the best footballers in the world. I think I’ll try to stay away and let my players do their thing this week.”
ESPN Jets reporter Rich Cimini and Saints reporter Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.
