AJ Cole’s sideline interview tops Pro Bowl coverage
Here’s probably all you need to know about Sunday’s Pro Bowl from Allegiant Stadium and the television coverage of it:
A punter wound up stealing the show.
“Got zero punts, three holds (on kicks), two halftime hot dogs — so really enjoyed the game so far,” AJ Cole, an undrafted free agent who represented the hometown Raiders in his first Pro Bowl, told ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
After Salters noted grass stains on his uniform, Cole said there is a trick to scraping one’s knees into the turf to show the other guys on the team how hard you had played.
“I don’t have a whole lot of proof of it; I’m not on the stat sheet per se,” he said. “But I was out there, scrapping with everybody else.”
A look at other nuggets from the broadcast booth and production truck, most of which didn’t measure up to Cole’s hang time:
■ Run, Mac, run! Those who resisted the temptation to channel surf for Winter Olympics curling were treated to the game’s best visual with two minutes remaining. The AFC’s Mac Jones ran nearly the length of the field by his lonesome, Forrest Gump-style, after his quarterback scramble was blown dead — with the camera staying with him every step of the way.
■ Diggs v. Diggs: The booth picked up on the Diggs brothers — wide receiver Stefon of the Bills and cornerback Trevon of the Cowboys — switching sides of the ball and lining up against each other. Too bad quarterback Kirk Cousins didn’t pick up on it at first. He checked off to a secondary receiver.
■ Diggs v. Diggs redux: After a timeout, Cousins threw another pass toward Trevon in the end zone that Stefon batted incomplete. Stefon later scored a TD when Trevon appeared to have him lined up for a big hit or — this being the Pro Bowl — a love tap, only to slip.
■ Best phrasing of a question during the pregame show: Randy Moss to sackmeister J.J. Watt after noting recently retired Tom Brady would not be participating: “But if there’s one quarterback from the NFC you want to maybe two-hand touch, who would that be?”
■ Best answer to a pregame show question said with a straight face that deserved a wink or elbow to the ribs: Tampa Bay wide receiver Mike Evans to studio analyst Booger McFarland: “Whoever the quarterback is going to be next season, we have nothing but faith in him.”
■ Play-by-play man Steve Levy, getting the final word on a discourse of the greatness that was Brady — while at the same time putting the Pro Bowl in perspective: “This is the 13th consecutive game that Tom Brady won’t play in that he was selected to.”
■ Closest thing to a cheap shot: After analyst Brian Griese mentioned he was selected to play in one Pro Bowl, Levy asked if the first eight QBs who were considered had begged off with injuries.
■ Best reason to miss the first five minutes of the Loyola-Missouri State basketball game on ESPNU: During the pregame show, analyst Louis Riddick, Moss and McFarland were asked about former Dolphins coach Brian Flores suing the NFL for discrimination, which spontaneously combusted into a passionate and animated discourse on racism in the NFL.
■ Seven words rarely said on television that probably best defined the 2022 Pro Bowl, as keenly observed by Levy or somebody speaking in his earpiece: “Now all six quarterbacks have been intercepted.”
■ Worst thing you can hear in the closing minutes of the Pro Bowl, which Levy mentioned with far too much glee: “Both teams have their full complement of timeouts.”
■ Best attempt at a Hail Mary before the game even started: Studio host Suzy Kolber, throwing it back to the broadcast booth: “Enjoy the Pro Bowl.”
Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.