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The 2002 Pro Bowl produced
the first back to back and
two-time Pro Bowl MVP since
the institution of the
modern MVP award in 1973.
The coaches were Andy Reid
of the Eagles and Bill
Cowher of the Steelers. A
crowd of 50,112 saw the
game.
The AFC got off to a shaky
start when Rich Gannon of
Oakland fumbled on the first
play from scrimmage.
Philadelphia’s Hugh Douglas
recovered the fumble,
returning it to the AFC's
2 yard line and setting up a
touchdown run by Green Bay’s Ahman Green that put the NFC
ahead 7-0 after less than 30
seconds. The NFC also added
a 29 yard field goal by the
Eagles’ David Akers to take
an early 10-0 lead. But,
Gannon responded, leading
the AFC to 21 straight
points in the first quarter
and a 28-13 lead when he
left the game. Gannon's
first touchdown pass covered
55 yards to the Colt’s Marvin Harrison. Harrison
beat Tampa’s Ronde Barber to
the middle of the field and
with Tampa’s John Lynch late
coming over to help,
Harrison had a clear path to
the end zone. The AFC added
two rushing touchdowns of 4
yards by the Jets’ Curtis
Martin and 39 yards by
Kansas City’s Priest Holmes.
Akers hit his second field
goal for the NFC as the
quarter ended making the
score, AFC 21, NFC 13. In
the second quarter, Gannon's
second touchdown pass was a
19 yarder to Indianapolis’
Ken Dilger down the left
sideline. NFC linebacker
LaVar Arrington of
Washington gambled in trying
to knock the ball down,
leaving Dilger a clear path
to the end zone and putting
the AFC up 28-13. With :06
to go in the half, Akers
kicked his third field goal
to make the score 28-16 at
the half.
The NFC tried to battle back
in the third quarter,
closing to 28-23 on San
Francisco’s Terrell Owens'
8 yard scoring pass from
Philadelphia’s Donovan
McNabb. But Denver’s Jason
Elam's 38 yard field goal
widened the lead and Baltimore’s Ray Lewis'
interception return sealed
the victory. Ty Law had
already run an interception
back for a touchdown in a Pro Bowl. It helped get him
co-MVP honors in 1999. So
this time the Patriots
cornerback let Lewis do the
honors for the game's most
entertaining play. Law's
interception and lateral to
Lewis resulted in a 44 yard
score that made it 38-23
with 2 minutes and 49
seconds left, halting the NFC's attempted comeback.
San Francisco’s Garrison
Hearst caught a 15 yard
touchdown pass from McNabb
with 1:40 remaining. The
final was 38-30.
Gannon, who was 8-of-10
passing for 137 yards and
two touchdowns in a little
over one quarter of work,
was named the Pro Bowl MVP,
becoming the first player to
claim back-to-back MVP
honors in the Pro Bowl since
the NFL began naming just
one Pro Bowl MVP in 1973. He
joined Johnny Unitas (1960,
1961), Jim Brown (1962,
1963) and Gale Sayers (1967,
1968) as the only
back-to-back winners in
history. Aloha Stadium saw
the fifth win in the last
six games for the AFC, tying
the overall series at 16
(since 1971).
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