With less than a full week of practice and the emphasis on sun and fun for the players, the Pro Bowl doesn't figure to be a game marked by intensity and efficiency.
But the NFL's all-star game has its moments, as evident in Sunday's 21-15 victory by the NFC over the AFC."It was a good football game that they'll know is played for real," said Detroit's Wayne Fontes, coach of the winning NFC squad.
"It was played by two outstanding teams and it was a good football game. I told the players earlier this week that I was lucky to be here with them. I told them that it was a game played for the pride of the conference. . . . It's a great game played by great players."
Despite the short week of work together, there were some fine performances on both sides.
Michael Irvin of the Dallas Cowboys caught eight passes, tying Steve Largent's Pro Bowl record, for 125 yards and was voted the game's MVP.
Washington's Mark Rypien, the MVP of last week's 37-24 Super Bowl victory by the Redskins over Buffalo, threw for two NFC touchdowns: 13 yards to Irvin and 35 yards to Washington teammate Gary Clark. Rypien completed 11 of 18 for 165 yards while playing less than half of the Pro Bowl.
Jerry Rice of San Francisco had seven receptions for 77 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown pass from Atlanta's Chris Miller with 4:04 remaining to bring the NFC back from a 15-14 deficit.
For the AFC, San Diego's Marion Butts rushed for 63 yards on 12 carries and Tim Brown of the Los Angeles Raiders caught five passes for 74 yards.
And the competition was heated enough that a few pushing-and-shoving skirmishes broke out, even more than in most NFL regular-season games.
"There's a real rivalry here," Rypien said. "Even though we had fun during the week, that goes by the wayside on Sunday."
"The game was intense," said running back Gaston Green of the Denver Broncos, a first-time all-star who carried three times for 10 yards.
Said Houston's Warren Moon: "The competitive juices come out on both sides."
Irvin was pleased to be the game's MVP.
"In college, only the best make the NFL. In the NFL, only the best make the Pro Bowl," he said. "And this (MVP) is the best of the best. It was worthy enough for me to call home and tell mom."
Irvin said Fontes kept the players focused on the game during practices, explaining, "It was a serious work week. We were into the game from the start. Coach Fontes set the tone early."
Miller, who was 7-of-10 for 85 yards, drove the NFC 85 yards to the winning score, with a personal foul penalty against Derrick Thomas of Kansas City on third-and-10 moving the ball to the AFC 12 and enabling the NFC to go for the touchdown.
Starter Jim Kelly of Buffalo completed six of 10 passes for 68 yards and one TD for the AFC, Moon was 5-of-9 for 54 yards, and Ken O'Brien of the New York Jets was 3-of-9 for 12 yards.
Troy Aikman of Dallas, the third quarterback for the NFC, completed 5-of-8 for 33 yards.
The AFC's other scoring came on field goals of 48 and 27 yards by the Raiders' Jeff Jaeger, and a safety when Raider defensive end Greg Townsend tackled Washington's Earnest Byner in the end zone.