2012 Pro Bowl
# 2012 Pro Bowl

The 2012 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2011 season. It took place at 2:00 pm local time on Sunday, January 29, 2012, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. The AFC defeated the NFC, 59–41.

The 59 points scored by the AFC team were a Pro Bowl record, and the combined 100 total points was second in the series' history to only the 2004 Pro Bowl. Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall was named the game's Most Valuable Player after catching four touchdown passes, breaking the record for touchdown receptions in a Pro Bowl which was set by Jimmy Smith in 2004.

The AFC team was coached by Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans while Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy led the NFC all-stars. The referee for the game was Walt Coleman.

## Scoring summary

| Scoring Play | Score |
| - | - |
| 1st quarter ||
| NFC – Larry Fitzgerald 10 yd. pass from Aaron Rodgers (David Akers kick) | NFC 7–0 |
| NFC – Larry Fitzgerald 44 yd. pass from Aaron Rodgers (David Akers kick) | NFC 14–0 |
| AFC – A. J. Green 34 yd. pass from Ben Roethlisberger (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | NFC 14–7 |
| AFC – Brandon Marshall 74 yd. pass from Ben Roethlisberger (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | Tied 14–14 |
| 2nd quarter ||
| NFC – Jimmy Graham 2 yd. pass from Drew Brees (David Akers kick) | NFC 21–14 |
| AFC – Brandon Marshall 29 yd. pass from Philip Rivers (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | Tied 21–21 |
| NFC – Greg Jennings 11 yd. pass from Drew Brees (David Akers kick) | NFC 28–21 |
| AFC – Antonio Gates 27 yd. pass from Philip Rivers (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | Tied 28–28 |
| 3rd quarter ||
| AFC – Sebastian Janikowski 37 yd. Field Goal | AFC 31–28 |
| NFC – Steve Smith 55 yd. pass from Cam Newton (David Akers kick) | NFC 35–31 |
| AFC – Brandon Marshall 47 yd. pass from Andy Dalton (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | AFC 38–35 |
| 4th quarter ||
| AFC – Vonta Leach 1 yd. run (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | AFC 45–35 |
| AFC – Brandon Marshall 3 yd. pass from Andy Dalton (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | AFC 52–35 |
| AFC – Derrick Johnson 60 yd. Interception Return (Sebastian Janikowski kick) | AFC 59–35 |
| NFC – Larry Fitzgerald 36 yd. pass from Cam Newton (kick short) | AFC 59–41 |

## AFC roster

The following players were selected to represent the AFC:

### Offense

| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) | Alternate(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Quarterback | 12 Tom Brady, New England | 7 Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh 17 Philip Rivers, San Diego | 14 Andy Dalton, Cincinnati |
| Running back | 27 Ray Rice, Baltimore | 32 Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville 23 Arian Foster, Houston | 23 Willis McGahee, Denver 24 Ryan Mathews, San Diego |
| Fullback | 44 Vonta Leach, Baltimore | | |
| Wide receiver | 83 Wes Welker, New England 17 Mike Wallace, Pittsburgh | 18 A. J. Green, Cincinnati 19 Brandon Marshall, Miami | 83 Vincent Jackson, San Diego, 85 |
| Tight end | 87 Rob Gronkowski, New England | 85 Antonio Gates, San Diego | 84 Jermaine Gresham, Cincinnati |
| Offensive tackle | 73 Joe Thomas, Cleveland 77 Jake Long, Miami | 60 D'Brickashaw Ferguson, N.Y. Jets | 78 Ryan Clady, Denver |
| Offensive guard | 70 Logan Mankins, New England 54 Brian Waters, New England | 73 Marshal Yanda, Baltimore | 65 Brandon Moore, N.Y. Jets 66 Ben Grubbs, Baltimore |
| Center | 53 Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh | 74 Nick Mangold, N.Y. Jets | 55 Chris Myers, Houston |

### Defense

| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) | Alternate(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Defensive end | 93 Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis 93 Andre Carter, New England | 58 Elvis Dumervil, Denver | 94 Antonio Smith, Houston |
| Defensive tackle | 92 Haloti Ngata, Baltimore 75 Vince Wilfork, New England | 92 Richard Seymour, Oakland | 97 Geno Atkins, Cincinnati 96 Paul Soliai, Miami |
| Outside linebacker | 55 Terrell Suggs, Baltimore 58 Von Miller, Denver | 91 Tamba Hali, Kansas City | 92 James Harrison, Pittsburgh |
| Inside linebacker | 52 Ray Lewis, Baltimore | 56 Derrick Johnson, Kansas City | |
| Cornerback | 24 Darrelle Revis, N.Y. Jets 24 Champ Bailey, Denver | 24 Johnathan Joseph, Houston | |
| Free safety | 20 Ed Reed, Baltimore | 32 Eric Weddle, San Diego | 25 Ryan Clark, Pittsburgh |
| Strong safety | 43 Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh | | 20 Brian Dawkins, Denver |

### Special teams

| Position | Starter(s) | Alternate(s) |
| - | - | - |
| Punter | 9 Shane Lechler, Oakland | |
| Placekicker | 11 Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland | |
| Kick returner | 84 Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh | |
| Special teamer | 18 Matthew Slater, New England | 24 Montell Owens, Jacksonville |
| Long snapper | 59 Jon Condo, Oakland | |

## NFC roster

The following players were selected to represent the NFC:

### Offense

| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) | Alternate(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Quarterback | 12 Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay | 9 Drew Brees, New Orleans 10 Eli Manning, N.Y. Giants | 1 Cam Newton, Carolina |
| Running back | 25 LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia | 22 Matt Forte, Chicago 21 Frank Gore, San Francisco | 24 Marshawn Lynch, Seattle |
| Fullback | 30 John Kuhn, Green Bay | | 26 Michael Robinson, Seattle |
| Wide receiver | 81 Calvin Johnson, Detroit 11 Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona | 89 Steve Smith, Carolina 85 Greg Jennings, Green Bay | 84 Roddy White, Atlanta |
| Tight end | 80 Jimmy Graham, New Orleans | 88 Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta | |
| Offensive tackle | 71 Jason Peters, Philadelphia 74 Joe Staley, San Francisco | 74 Jermon Bushrod, New Orleans | |
| Offensive guard | 73 Jahri Evans, New Orleans 77 Carl Nicks, New Orleans | 75 Davin Joseph, Tampa Bay | |
| Center | 67 Ryan Kalil, Carolina | 63 Scott Wells, Green Bay | |

### Defense

| Position | Starter(s) | Reserve(s) | Alternate(s) |
| - | - | - | - |
| Defensive end | 69 Jared Allen, Minnesota 93 Jason Babin, Philadelphia | 90 Jason Pierre-Paul, N.Y. Giants | 90 Julius Peppers, Chicago |
| Defensive tackle | 94 Justin Smith, San Francisco 90 Jay Ratliff, Dallas | 90 B. J. Raji, Green Bay | |
| Outside linebacker | 94 DeMarcus Ware, Dallas 52 Clay Matthews, Green Bay | 55 Lance Briggs, Chicago | 52 Chad Greenway, Minnesota |
| Inside linebacker | 52 Patrick Willis, San Francisco | 54 Brian Urlacher, Chicago | 59 London Fletcher, Washington |
| Cornerback | 21 Charles Woodson, Green Bay 22 Carlos Rogers, San Francisco | 33 Charles Tillman, Chicago | 39 Brandon Browner, Seattle |
| Free safety | 29 Earl Thomas, Seattle | 38 Dashon Goldson, San Francisco | 31 Kam Chancellor, Seattle |
| Strong safety | 24 Adrian Wilson, Arizona | | |

### Special teams

| Position | Starter(s) |
| - | - |
| Punter | 4 Andy Lee, San Francisco |
| Placekicker | 2 David Akers, San Francisco |
| Kick returner | 21 Patrick Peterson, Arizona |
| Special teamer | 21 Corey Graham, Chicago |
| Long snapper | 86 Brian Jennings, San Francisco |

Notes:

    bold player who participated in game
    $^a$ Replacement selection due to injury or vacancy
    $^b$ Injured player; selected but will not play
    $^c$ Replacement starter; selected as reserve
    $^d$ "Need player"; named by coach
    $^e$ Selected but did not play because his team advanced to Super Bowl XLVI

## Number of selections per team

American Football Conference :

| Team | Selections |
| - | - |
| New England Patriots | 9 |
| Baltimore Ravens | 8 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 |
| Denver Broncos | 6 |
| San Diego Chargers | 5 |
| Houston Texans | 4 |
| New York Jets | 4 |
| Oakland Raiders | 4 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4 |
| Miami Dolphins | 3 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 2 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 2 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 0 |
| Tennessee Titans | 0 |

National Football Conference :

| Team | Selections |
| - | - |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 |
| Green Bay Packers | 7 |
| Chicago Bears | 6 |
| New Orleans Saints | 5 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 5 |
| Arizona Cardinals | 3 |
| Carolina Panthers | 3 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 3 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 2 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 2 |
| New York Giants | 2 |
| Detroit Lions | 1 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 |
| Washington Redskins | 1 |
| St. Louis Rams | 0 |

## Broadcasting

The game was televised nationally by NBC. The telecast of the game garnered a Nielsen rating of 7.9 nationally. While this represented an eight percent drop over the 2011 Pro Bowl ratings, the game was still the second most watched Pro Bowl of the past twelve years. The game drew more viewers than the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. NBC also broadcast the 2013 game as Super Bowl broadcaster CBS had declined to carry it.

## Social media

The NFL loosened its rules which forbid players from communicating via social media during games, by setting up a computer on each sideline to allow players to use Twitter. Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher used the occasion to propose a contest among his Twitter followers to predict the game's final score and MVP. However, the NFL had him rescind the offer and he instead gave away a signed jersey instead of cash, presumably on anti-gambling grounds.

## Entertainment

The pop band Hot Chelle Rae played during the pregame ceremonies for the game. United States Air Force Technical Sergeant Richard Vazquez sang the national anthem before the kickoff. Several representatives of the U.S. Armed Forces participated in the coin toss ceremony: Major General Rodger Mathews, U.S. Army Pacific deputy commander; Lieutenant General Thomas L. Conant, U.S. Marine Corps Pacific command deputy commander and USAF Major General Darryll Wong, adjutant general of the Hawaii Air National Guard. The halftime show, "NFL Salute to Service," was a tribute to the United States Armed Forces featuring the U.S. Army Silent Drill Team along with over a thousand service members stationed at bases in Hawaii.

## Reactions

Simon Samano of NFL.com wrote about the game, "Players love the trip to Hawaii but don't care for the game itself. They have no desire to risk injury in a 'meaningless' game, which is why they don't play hard, which is how you end up with 59–41 as the final score. It's that lack of effort that caused fans to boo during portions of this year's game." Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers stated on his radio show, "I was just surprised that some of the guys either didn’t want to play or when they were in there didn't put any effort into it." The Pro Bowl has different rules than a regular season NFL game. Blitzing is not allowed and the 4–3 formation must always be used in defensive formations.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking a week after the game, stated that the 2012 Pro Bowl wasn't "the kind of football we want to be demonstrating to our fans, and you heard it from the fans, the fans were actively booing in the stands. ... We are going to either have to improve the quality of what we are doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes, or even consider eliminating the game if that is the kind of quality of game we are going to provide."

Philip Rivers also questioned some of the players efforts in the Pro Bowl game. Rivers discussed with Bill Williamson during an interview “In general, maybe the whole week should be up for discussion, but I know there are guys in the game whose contracts may be up and they don’t want to get hurt and things like that. Still, we have to think of the fans and try to stay true to the game and not make a joke or a mockery out of the game."

