Every Pro Bowl player endured a long trip to Hawaii, but the journey for Michael Vick in many ways was the longest.

Less than two years after being released from federal prison, the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback is making his fourth Pro Bowl appearance — his first since serving 18 months for his role in a dogfighting operation.

“This one feels great due to the fact that I’ve been through so much and trained to getting back to this position,” Vick said after the NFC all-stars opened practice Wednesday in Kapolei, Hawaii. “It’s paramount for me and my family, and I’m just thankful.”

After starting the year as a backup to Kevin Kolb, Vick is coming off the best season of his career, leading the Eagles to an NFC East title.

“I’m enjoying the guys, and I’m enjoying being out here playing football,” he said. “This is what you work for. You work hard to get in this position. I’m ecstatic to be here.”

Vick, 30, was selected to start Sunday after leading the NFC with more than 1.5 million votes, far ahead of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the conference’s second-leading vote-getter at 948,410.

“I’m going to try to put on a great show for the fans,” Vick said of Sunday’s game against the AFC all-stars.

Vick also will receive a $1.9 million bonus for reaching certain contractural playing-time plateaus, NFL Network insider Jason La Canfora reported Wednesday, citing a league source. Vick’s base salary in 2010 was $3.75 million.

Vick’s running is largely what got him into the Pro Bowl in the past. He takes satisfaction in knowing that his passing was better than it has ever been this season.

“I feel like this one, I had to work hard to get it,” he said. “It came in a different fashion. I displayed different talents this year and showed really what I could do in the passing game along with doing everything else. Everything just came together, and it worked out for me.”

Vick set career highs in passing yards (3,018), touchdown passes (21), rushing touchdowns (nine), completion percentage (62.6) and passer rating (100.2). The Eagles (10-6), who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Super Bowl-bound Green Bay Packers, went 8-3 in games Vick started and finished.
2011 Pro Bowl
(Jan. 30, 2011, 7 p.m. ET on FOX)

Vick’s last throw still stings. He threw an interception in the end zone with 33 seconds left to seal the 21-16 playoff loss to the Packers.

Hawaii is nice, but Vick’s goal is to make the Super Bowl. The question is whether or not he’ll try next season with the Eagles or another team.

Vick doesn’t have a contract for 2011, and he could become a free agent if the NFL labor situation allows. The Eagles want him back, and Vick wants to stay in Philadelphia, which gave him a shot when it seemed no one else would.

“Hopefully, I’ll be with the Eagles next year. We’ll see what happens,” said Vick, who added that he expects “everything to go according to plan.”

“We’ll see what happens over the next couple months. I just got to be patient and take it day by day,” he said.

Vick, who made his three previous Pro Bowl appearances in six years with the Atlanta Falcons, is being coached this week by the Falcons’ staff, although none of these coaches were in Atlanta when Vick was.

At practice Wednesday, Vick loosened up by throwing passes to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who is making his first Pro Bowl appearance in his third season and succeeded Vick in Atlanta.

“Matt is great. The coaching staff is great. We’re just having a good time,” Vick said. “I like what they’re doing in the offense, and it’s been easy. We’re going to go out and try to have fun and everybody enjoy each other.”

Vick looked sharp and fluid as he completed a 20-yard out to Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald. On the next play, Vick faked a handoff to Peterson and hit Falcons tight end Tony Gonzalez going across the middle.

The Pro Bowl is the last stop in a remarkable comeback season for Vick.

After his 2007 arrest and later conviction, he went from living in a 20,000-square-foot mansion near Atlanta to broke and bankrupt. His reputation paid a bigger price as he went from hero to hated.

Vick served 18 months in Leavenworth, Kan.

This week he’s staying at a posh, oceanside hotel at Ko Olina Resort, savoring his experience with his teammates and soaking in the 80-degree weather.

“I’m definitely enjoying the weather,” he said. “I’m about to hit the golf course right now, so we’ve got to cut the interviews short.”

Things seem to be turning around for Vick off the field as well. He just signed his first paid endorsement contract since his release from prison — a two-year contract with Unequal Technologies, a provider of the shock-blocking football pads that Vick wore most of the season.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin still is just 38 years old, still hasn’t played a down of NFL football and still has only one year as a coordinator on his resume.

Super Bowl XLV: Steelers vs. Packers Sunday, Feb. 6, 6 p.m. ET (FOX)

But after his team secured their second Super Bowl appearance in his four seasons as head coach, the last thing Tomlin has to worry about is whether he has gained the respect of his players — past or present.

“I think a lot of guys,” Steelers defensive tackle Chris Hoke said, “would love to come play for coach Tomlin.”

Former Steelers cornerback Deshea Townsend concurs. And he should know. He played for Bill Cowher and Tomlin and was a key member of that Pittsburgh transition phase.

“He had to put his identity on the team. He had to do things he felt would make us better, and he had to do his own way,” said Townsend, now a talk-show host in Pittsburgh. “He was coming in for an established coach, one that guys respected. So not only was he the new guy, he was the new guy for a guy who had been there a long time.”

Whatever he did, it worked. After all, he’s already a Super Bowl champion and is on the cusp of joining an exclusive club of two-time-winning coaches — before his 40th birthday, no less.

Maybe that’s why Tomlin appears to be as beloved by his players as any other NFL coach.

“It was a different feel to have a young guy, this coordinator from Minnesota who came up through the ranks pretty quickly, coming in here,” Townsend said. “Before he had spoken to us, there was this type of unknown of how it was going to be.

“But all that disappeared when he came on. When he first got there, he was so well-received, and the way he addressed us as men, guys gained an instant respect for their new coach.”

The rest is history. In four seasons, the Steelers — who will meet the Green Bay Packers in the Feb. 6 Super Bowl in Arlington, Texas — have made the playoffs three times, won three AFC North titles and secured two Super Bowl berths. Their worst season under Tomlin? 9-7.

Not bad.

“Coach Tomlin took over the team right away,” said Hoke, a 10-year veteran with the Steelers. “He put his imprint on this team when he first got here — two different teams, two different personalities, two different coaching styles. They both do great. I was very close to Coach Cowher. I think Coach Tomlin is a great coach. I’m close to him. Two different styles, but two different ways of winning, and they both win.”

Townsend knows that all too well. He, like so many other teammates, developed a strong relationship with Cowher over nine seasons and was part of a veteran core that wasn’t accustomed to change. This was Pittsburgh, after all, the one NFL team that doesn’t have much fluctuation in the coaching department.

And initially — while the aforementioned respect was there to an extent — there was a hint of skepticism among some of the players with “the new guy.”

Tomlin was much harder on his players than Cowher was, so that became a sticking point. During Tomlin’s first training camp in 2007, in fact, the Steelers were in pads and hitting more often, running more, being forced to finish plays with more vigor during early fundamental drills.

“We were doing things that we weren’t used to doing,” Townsend said, “and that led to some complaining about how we were practicing and some of the stuff that was going on during practice.”

They eventually put it all together enough to start out 9-3. But they stumbled down the stretch, going 1-4, including a 31-29 home wild-card playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. To date, that is Tomlin’s lone postseason defeat.

After that first season, Tomlin became kinder and gentler. He pulled back the reins in training camp. And he often gives veteran players days off from practice each week during the season.

“The great thing about Coach Tomlin is he learned us very quickly,” Townsend said. “Once he saw how hard we worked at everything else, he knew to back off in some of the other areas. That’s a great trait for a young coach. Some coaches aren’t willing to listen to their players.

“He was willing to adjust to us but also keep his own spin on it.”

Matt Cassel was supposed to be a game-day decision. The quarterback had no doubt he’d be in the lineup.

Cassel went the distance only 11 days after an emergency appendectomy, leading the way in a 27-13 victory over the suddenly sagging St. Louis Rams (Cheap Rams Jerseys) on Sunday. He didn’t think it was a big deal, either.

“Everything felt good,” Cassel said. “I feel good now. And a win makes it feel better.”

Before the game, Cassel said one of the team doctors texted that he was probably more nervous than the quarterback about what might happen. Teammates were impressed at the quarterback’s toughness, too.

“For a guy to come back after having an organ removed from his body, playing the next week, yeah it’s definitely extraordinary,” running back Thomas Jones said. “I’m proud of him, really proud of him.”

To the Rams, Cassel didn’t look a man who’d just been stitched up.

“He’s a tough dude,” defensive end Chris Long said. “I mean, he came out there and slung it around a little, he took a hit or two.

“A lot of people wondered if he’d even play and he played a good game.”

Jamaal Charles scored on a short run and helped clinch it with a late 80-yard burst for the Chiefs (9-5), who retained a one-game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West.

Kansas City managed only 67 yards in a 31-0 loss at San Diego last week with backup quarterback Brodie Croyle starting, and ended a seven-quarter scoreless drought on Cassel’s 2-yard pass to Leonard Pope midway through the second quarter.

Jones became the NFL’s (Throwback NFL  Jerseys) 25th player to rush for 10,000 yards and scored the final touchdown on a 2-yard run with 3:26 to go, one play after Ron Bartell ran down Charles just shy of the goal line. Charles had 126 yards on 11 carries and Jones had 62 yards on 22 carries, and the Chiefs totaled 213 yards rushing.

Cassel was questionable after getting limited work in practice, but led the team on the field for warmups and didn’t miss a snap while going 15 for 29 for 184 yards. He was rarely hit by the Rams, who sacked him twice on the same series in the third quarter but couldn’t rattle him, and even produced a first down with a 13-yard scramble in the second quarter.

The Rams (6-8) fizzled after a strong start, losing their second straight and missing a shot to solidify first place in the weak NFC West. Sam Bradford became the third rookie in the NFL to pass for 3,000 yards but it came in one of his worst performances.

“I didn’t play well at all,” Bradford said. “We let it get away and there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

Bradford was 21 for 43 for 181 yards and two interceptions, both times by Kendrick Lewis. Bradford was sacked three times, all by Wallace Gilberry, to lead a pass rush that hounded him all day.

The Rams led 6-0 after field goals to end the first two possessions but totaled one first down in the second and third quarters while the Chiefs scored 20 straight points.

St. Louis got its first five first downs of the second half on a 12-play, 72-play, drive capped by Steven Jackson’s 5-yard run that cut the margin to 20-13 with 4:04 to go on. The next play after the kickoff, Charles broke loose for an 80-yard jaunt to the Rams 2, and Jones took it in the next play.

“When you have eight men in the box, you usually don’t get those types of runs,” Bartell said. “We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times.”

The Chiefs (Cheap Chiefs Jerseys) have won five straight in the series since 1997, and were helped in this one by thousands of vocal fans who made the trip across Interstate 70. Gov. Jay Nixon attended and presented the Governor’s Cup trophy, usually awarded after a preseason game.

The Rams had five false starts. Bradford said “for a home game it was a little harder to hear.”

“We’ve got to be better than that,” the quarterback added. “I didn’t think I played well at all.”

Jones, who alternates with Charles, hit the 10,000-yard plateau on a 4-yard carry early in the third quarter. Jones entered the game needing 17 yards and finished with 62 yards on 22 carries after totaling 1 yard on three attempts last week.

Two field goals by Josh Brown field goals in the first quarter ended the Rams’ three-game slow-starting slump during which opponents outscored them 30-0 the first two possessions. The Chiefs managed only 16 yards on nine plays in the first quarter, and Cassel threw into a crowd on an interception by Kevin Dockery to end the second series, but outgained St. Louis 155-8 in the second quarter.

Offensive tackle Jason Smith was whistled for three penalties in the first half — false start, illegal use of hands and holding.

The Chiefs finished 3-5 on the road. They allowed an average of 32 points the previous five road games.

For the second time in a week, a fine has been levied for sideline contact during a punt return.

Carolina defensive end Tyler Brayton was fined $15,000 by the NFL (Youth NFL Jerseys) for hitting Atlanta’s Chris Owens out of bounds in last week’s game. The fine was levied Friday, but not made public.

Also last Sunday, New York Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi stuck out his knee and tripped Miami’s Nolan Carroll. Alosi was suspended indefinitely by the team and fined $25,000.

Brayton was not available to speak after Carolina’s 19-12 win over Arizona on Sunday.

“We looked at it and addressed it with the team,” coach John Fox said. “We don’t condone it. We don’t coach it. Anything other than that, you’ll have to ask Tyler. I was made aware that there was a fine involved. We don’t announce fines.”

Brayton hit Owens in the head after the Falcons (Cheap Falcons Jerseys) player was forced off the field. Fox Sports showed a video of the incident from Week 14. The grainy coaches film shows Brayton walking up from the bench area toward the field as Owens is engaged with a Carolina defender. Brayton then drops Owens with what appears to be an elbow to the head.

“I was like ‘Wow, that’s kind of messed up.’ It kind of went unknown, unseen until we saw the film. I’ve moved on,” Owens said.

These incidents are unusual, yet both happened on the same day.

The Jets’ incident appears to have been somewhat orchestrated.

At first, Alosi was suspended for the rest of the season, but then acknowledged he told five inactive players to stand next to each other for the punt return during which he tripped Carroll.

That was information Alosi did not initially volunteer, according to Jets (Jets Jerseys)general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

“Over the course of the next couple of days, more information came out that really doesn’t sit well with us,” Tannenbaum said.

Coach Rex Ryan and special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff both have denied they ordered anyone to do what Alosi told the players.

“It caught me off guard,” Ryan said.

Panthers tackle Jordan Gross didn’t see similarities in the plays.

“He was way deep on the sideline,” Gross said of Brayton. “You get fined and you pay your money and you move on. It hasn’t really been a big deal around here.

“Punts are a crazy play. Guys go flying into the sidelines and hit referees with the sticks, plow over coaches. It’s just messy. I’m sure that’s gone on more than it hasn’t. I think it was just coincidental it was on the same week as that tripping thing.”

Need a lift?

Titans RB Chris Johnson gets Texans safety Bernard Pollard airborne as Kerry Collins looks for a receiver downfield.

Just out of reach of my two open arms

Steelers (Cheap Steelers Jerseys) tight end Matt Spaeth cannot come up with this catch on the final play of a 22-17 loss to the Jets.

For different reasons, the San Diego Chargers (Cheap Chaegers Jerseys) and San Francisco 49ers are surprisingly just one online game away from 1st place within their respective divisions. just one of them is going to ascertain all those name hopes consider an enormous hit.

Fresh away victories versus division leaders, the Chargers and 49ers will make an effort to hold on their momentum and improve their playoff odds once they satisfy at Qualcomm Stadium on Thursday night.

San Diego (7-6) and San Francisco (5-8) entered the period of your time as favorites to gain the AFC and NFC West, respectively. equally clubs stay in contention with three movement image games to play, but they’ve required to triumph over bad starts.

The four-time reigning AFC West champion Chargers opened 2-5 but have won 5 of 6 pursuing Sunday’s 31-0 victory over first-place Kansas City, pulling within of the solo online game using the Chiefs.

The Chargers’ last two movement image games are on the way to be visits to Cincinnati and Denver, which have mixed for 5 wins.

“For me, that online game doesn’t necessarily mean something if we don’t go gain Thursday,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “To me, that’s the way in which every just one of those movement image games is on the way getting when we gain them, then it’s on the way to turn out to be considered a moot phase if we don’t go gain the following game.

“I think we’ve place ourselves within a placement now, just one online game back, certainly we comprehend practically nothing has changed. We’ve obtained to go gain the relaxation of them. That’s all we are able to control. You by no signifies know what can come about … in three weeks.”

The 49ers (49ers Jerseys) locate on their own within a common placement quickly after beating Seattle 40-21 on Sunday to gain for that fifth time in eight movement image games and proceed just one online game back again using the Seahawks and St. Louis within your division. The powerful develop has aided San Francisco proceed previous an 0-5 start quickly after displaying big assure receiving a .500 complete last season.

The 49ers have a look at the Rams following day before to web hosting Arizona within your regular-season finale.

“We’re just one online game away from first,” linebacker Travis LaBoy said. “All we are able to do is concentrate inside the following online game and make an effort to sustain knocking right down the W’s. Hopefully we are able to get some support right down the path from other clubs dropping and rewriting that playoff picture.”

Another powerful work from Alex Smith could obtain the Niners closer to their 1st division name offered that 2002. He finished receiving a career-high 130.9 passer rating Sunday while completing 17 of 27 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns to guide San Francisco to its most beneficial scoring proficiency using the season.

Smith, who missed the earlier 5 movement image games receiving a shoulder injury, has struggled to reside up toward the hype of getting the best draft choose in 2005. He’s scheduled getting a zero cost agent within your offseason, and remaining in San Francisco could possibly be unlikely.

“I’m not contemplating about any of that (future) stuff, getting truthful with you. We’re a online game back again within your division and we’re actively playing amid probably the most effective football clubs within your NFL,” Smith said. “Our backs are up versus the wall and it’s a short week, short turnaround. So I’m excited, and I think everyone is.”

Facing the top-ranked defense within your NFL (Youth NFL Jerseys) will in all likelihood be considered a considerably stiffer job for Smith.

San Diego permits a league-low 265.0 yards every online game while providing up the fewest by means of the oxygen at 173.4. The defense may be also tied for 3rd with Oakland at 38 sacks, just one much under Pittsburgh as well as the brand ny Giants.

The Chargers collected 4 sacks versus the Chiefs while holding them to 67 yards — 19 passing — for that second-fewest permitted in set history.

“As prolonged as we consider treatment of our business, they won’t place 40 up on us,” mentioned cornerback Antoine Cason, San Diego’s mind with 4 interceptions. “I in reality think that. For us getting a self-confident set like we are, we should put together like we usually have through this short week. If we consider treatment of our business, we’re on the way getting fine.”

Rivers capabilities a 106.0 passer rating at Qualcomm Stadium, and his 15 touchdown passes are just one back again of New Orleans’ Drew Brees for that league guide at home. He’s also tossed 7 picks, receiving just one coming in every using the last 5 residence games.

Rivers will now contend receiving a 49ers defense that collected a season-high 4 interceptions last weekend, returning just one for just about any score.

San Diego has won the last two meetings with San Francisco, which consists of 20-17 in overtime at residence in November 2002.

Quarterback David Garrard was seemingly another bad game away from getting benched, quite possibly for good, in Jacksonville.

Coach Jack Del Rio even said publicly that he was sticking with Garrard “as long as he’s our best option.”

Nearly three months later, Garrard is one touchdown pass from breaking Mark Brunell’s franchise record and has a chance to lead the Jaguars (8-5) to their first AFC South title.

What’s the difference?

“If I knew that, I would definitely bottle that up and tell nobody,” Garrard said.

Although running back Maurice Jones-Drew has received much of the credit for Jacksonville’s success this season — he has six consecutive 100-yard games heading into Sunday’s critical game at Indianapolis (Cheap Colts Jerseys) — Garrard has been an equally important cog in the team’s rise to the top of the division.

Garrard has thrown 19 touchdown passes and just five interceptions in Jacksonville’s eight wins and one TD pass and seven picks in the five losses.

He’s even better when he’s asked to do less. The Jaguars (Jaguars Jerseys) are 6-0 when Garrard has thrown 22 or fewer passes this season, not including a lopsided loss against Tennessee in October when he was knocked out of the game early with a concussion.

“He can’t play well by himself,” Del Rio said. “It’s a team game, the ultimate team game, and David would be the first to tell you that it’s a combination of the line doing a good job up front giving him time and the receivers doing a good job getting open down the field and catching the ball. There are a lot of guys doing good things around him.”