Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis rarely holds a football during a game, and he savors any chance he can to do it. Lewis was ready for opportunity
to reach end zoneStar-Bulletin staff
That's why he didn't hesitate to ask for his chance when Ty Law intercepted a pass in NFC territory.
Law ran the pick back 31 yards and pitched to Lewis, who bulled his way 13 yards into the end zone with a large group of AFC players all over him.
"I knew I could score," Lewis said. "Oh yeah, I was screaming at Ty to give me the ball. The whole time, I was screaming at him from all the way over on the other side of the field.
"Any time I can make a play to end the game and put the victory away, I'm going to do it."
Lewis' touchdown made it 38-23 with 2:39 to play.
He's the Champ: The AFC kept control of the game most of the way before Washington's Champ Bailey gave the NFC a lift in the fourth quarter with an interception return of 44 yards. The pass from Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady was intended for Pittsburgh's Hines Ward.
"But he never turned around," Bailey said. "I saw the football the whole way and fortunately got a pick out of it. It gave us some momentum because we scored (on an 8-yard pass from Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb to San Francisco's Terrell Owens to cut the AFC lead to 31-23).
"But we didn't come back and play defense well enough to get the win. I still had a lot of fun. I almost took it back for a score, but my boy (Ward) from Georgia came back and got me. This is a great game to be a part of. You dream about it as a young man. To be able to make some plays makes it even better."
Serena sighting: LaVar Arrington didn't confirm or deny that close friend Serena Williams was in the house. But he enjoyed the question when asked about her attending an NFC practice last week:
"She did?" he asked, then smiled. "Man, I'm not going to say anything about that."
Arrington did talk about his first Pro Bowl.
"I'm going to come back next year and win MVP," Arrington said.
"That's my goal. We're basically out here to put on a good show, but not hurt one another. Everybody watches out for everybody else out here. I'm a fan first. Just being around all these guys was very special for me."
Records set: There were several interesting Pro Bowl records broken during yesterday's game.
Ahman Green's 2-yard touchdown run for the NFC just 27 seconds into the first quarter was the fastest touchdown in Pro Bowl history. It broke the previous mark of 13:34 set by Yancey Thigpen on a 93-yard touchdown catch from Jeff Blake.
"It's nice to be in the record book," Green said. "We took advantage of a fumble early on. It's just too bad we couldn't hold the lead."
The first-quarter action didn't end at the 14:33 mark. The teams combined for a record 34 points in the opening frame as the AFC took a 21-13 lead. The old mark of 31 was set in 2000 as the NFC built a 17-14 advantage.
Oakland kicker Shane Lechler set a record with a 70-yard punt, then broke it with a 73-yard effort that Arrington almost blocked. He also set the record for average punting yardage with 60.8. The old record of 55.5 was set by San Diego's Darren Bennett in 1996.
"I just got them up in the wind and they took off," Lechler said. "The wind is strange here. You don't feel anything on the field, but it's obviously blowing hard across the top."
Brady remains upbeat: New England's Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady didn't think he left the fans disappointed despite a lackluster performance.
"They're here to see everybody," he said. "And they got to see some great plays, like Ray Lewis' touchdown. That was really something, and it came from a guy who never gets his hands on the ball."
Brady, who flashed his usual big smile after the game, was far from satisfied with the way he played.
"I'm not going to get myself all worked up about that interception, and yes, I should still have gone out there and completed all my passes."
He's back-back-back: ESPN commentator Chris Berman enjoyed the game, and he says he loves coming out to Hawaii.
"It was a good show, and that's all you can ask for," Berman said. "And you knew the weather wasn't going to be like yesterday (rain). How do I know? I talked to the mayor of Maui (James Apana) and we talked about this stuff, and we knew it would be sunny. Hey, I'm the Swami."
When someone asked him who the next Buccaneers' coach will be, Berman said unflinchingly, "Me."
Douglas on the spot: Early on, it looked like Hugh Douglas might steal the show.
On the game's first play from scrimmage, Douglas set up the game's first score by recovering Rich Gannon's bad pitch and returning it 9 yards.
"It was a fun game," Douglas said. "It's the only time in football where you can go into a game and you know you're playing mostly for fun. Granted, we still wanted to win."
Douglas also sacked Pittsburgh quarterback Kordell Stewart in the third quarter.
He vowed the Eagles will be back with a "renewed vigor" next year.
"We fell short of our primary goal," said Douglas, whose Eagles lost to St. Louis 29-24 in the NFC Championship game.
"They're a great team," Douglas said. "But they're beatable. People that don't play football -- the armchair quarterbacks -- are the ones who said the Rams can't be beat. They've got Marshall (Faulk) and a bunch of other big offensive weapons, but they're not unstoppable."
Homecoming: The highlight of the day for Olin Kreutz, the Chicago Bears center from Honolulu, was the introductions.
"It was awesome, that's the only word to describe it," Kreutz said. "Getting your name announced in a game like this. You work for that all your life. The loss? We won't really worry about it. We tried to win, especially with $15,000 each on the line."
That's cold: Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown caught 2 passes for 41 yards, but literally lost his shirt.
Someone snuck into the locker room immediately after the game and stole Brown's jersey. Brown was upset, but only briefly.
"Everything other than that has been great, so I can't really complain," he said.
Sign this: There's usually a "no autograph" policy in place in locker rooms, but it was ignored by the pros themselves at yesterday's game. Several NFL players turned into fans, asking each other for autographs and memorabilia.
"That's what this week is about," Oakland wide receiver Tim Brown said. Though a Pro Bowl vet, Brown said he still seeks out colleagues for their signatures.
"I ain't been here enough to get every helmet in the league," he said. Brown signed his own helmet, "Keep rising, Tim Brown," and gave it as a gift to Ray Lewis.
Raider Rich Gannon and Steeler Kordell Stewart also traded autographed helmets.
Compiled by Nick Abramo, Paul Arnett, Dave Reardon and Kalani Simpson