HONOLULU – Fresh off his miss in the playoffs that cost San Diego a chance to beat New England, San Diego kicker Nate Kaeding faced yet another pressure-packed kick Saturday.

Kaeding’s 21-yard field goal as time expired gave the AFC a 31-28 victory over the NFC at Aloha Stadium. Not that this event will matter much in the annals of football history.

But it sure did matter to the pocketbooks of Kaeding’s AFC teammates.

"They might have hung me up by this vent (if I had missed)," Kaeding said, referring to the fact that the winners got $40,000. The losers got $20,000, which may account for the fact that the Pro Bowl seriously resembles a typical NBA game. Overall, there was more than $1 million riding on Kaeding’s kick.

The game gets a lot more interesting in the final five minutes when players realize what's really on the line.

"Hey, that extra cash pays off the trip," said Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas, who brought his wife and parents. The Thomas clan will spend an extra week of

HONOLULU – Ramiro Romo is talking about his son Tony maintaining perspective through all the cresting and crashing waves of success and failure that occurred last season in Dallas.

As he talks, a reporter points to the posh resort hotel that towers over the elder Romo to his left, the spa on his right and the state-of-the-art, pre-release oversized driver he's holding in his right hand. The club was a gift to his son only moments before the elder Romo and the reporter struck up a conversation. All of that is wrapped in the sound of the Pacific Ocean hitting the shore roughly 100 yards away.

Romo, who underwent a meteoric rise from backup to starting quarterback, has spent this week preparing for the Pro Bowl on Saturday and trying to forget the disappointment of his botched hold that cost Dallas a possible victory at Seattle in the playoffs.

All the while, he's trying to figure out what the future holds as the Cowboys bring in coach Wade Phillips to replace Bill Parcells. He also has a

HONOLULU – The Dallas Cowboys could come back to one of their first candidates to fill their head coaching job.

According to two sources within the Cowboys organization, San Diego Chargers defensive coordinator Wade Phillips appears to be the leader to take the job.

"The way Jerry is talking, it sounds like it's going to be [Phillips]," one of the sources said Wednesday.

Although owner Jerry Jones appeared to be most interested in former Cowboys and current San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Norv Turner, Phillips – one of 10 candidates interviewed for the opening – has emerged as the top choice for a variety of reasons.

The most prominent reason is that Jones might be taking a more logical approach to the process after already hiring former Miami Dolphins quarterback coach Jason Garrett to be the offensive coordinator. The widely held belief is that Jones eventually wants the 40-year-old Garrett to be the team's head coach. When Dallas asked Miami for permission to interview

HONOLULU – As blissful as the Pro Bowl can be, it's hard for some to let go of a harsh reality.

For Denver Broncos defensive backs Champ Bailey and John Lynch, the death of teammate Darrent Williams still burns in their minds.

Both Bailey and Lynch wanted to wear No. 27 in the Pro Bowl before the league told them it was honoring Williams by putting the number on all the players' helmets for the game. Lynch, a 14-year veteran, praised Williams for trying to change his life and "do things the right way."

Williams was shot and killed after attending a New Year's Eve party in Denver that was sponsored by Denver Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin. Some of Williams' teammates were reportedly involved in an argument with other people at the party. Williams and some teammates left without an altercation, but the limousine he was riding in was sprayed with bullets.

Williams was hit in the neck as he sat next to teammate Javon Walker. Williams reportedly died in Walker's arms, a scene Green Bay

Dungy didn't need a

MIAMI – In a game that honors an incredibly small percentage of players as Pro Football Hall of Famers, the process of electing them is a brutally inexact science.

Or as long-time voter Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com suggested: It really comes down to a "smell test."

"There's no one way to measure a player's achievement," said Pasquarelli, who will be among 40 selectors who gather Saturday morning to discuss the 17 finalists for this year's Hall of Fame induction. "It's not just about honors or Pro Bowls or Super Bowls or stats … At the end of the day it really comes down to a gut reaction. Does this guy smell like a Hall of Fame player?"

Pasquarelli's sentiment was shared in some way by every Hall selector that Yahoo! Sports spoke with this week. Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer understands the difficulty better than most. Grossi votes in both the football and baseball processes.

"Baseball is pretty straight-forward because you have a lot of statistics that can show how good a

MIAMI – Brian Urlacher's eyes dart side-to-side quickly. He speaks almost faster than his eyes move, which is nearly impossible.

He is focused, intense and ready.

At that point, the Chicago Bears had only been in town for three days, but Urlacher might have already set an unofficial record for answering the most questions in a Super Bowl week.

The most important question Urlacher wants to answer is whether he and the Bears can handle the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday in Super Bowl XLI at Dolphin Stadium. Without question, Urlacher is going to be the key to whatever the Bears hope to accomplish.

Urlacher is more than simply the latest in Chicago's middle linebacker legacy, the heir to the position made famous by Dick Butkus and played at a similarly outstanding level by Mike Singletary. He also could become the latest in a series of linebackers who have turned the Super Bowl into their personal showcase. From Derrick Brooks to Ray Lewis to Jack Lambert, the Super Bowl has had a stunning

MIAMI – Team president Bill Polian walks quietly through the press box at Indianapolis Colts games, rarely stopping to talk for more than a few seconds.

But when he goes to his seat behind an area set off by a dark blue curtain, the show begins. Polian yells in loud bursts, screaming about an official's call or one of myriad things that bothers him.

On the road, Polian contains himself a little better. Usually seated among reporters, Polian does his best to keep it down. But the nervous twitches and occasional fist pumps portray the feelings below his hang-dog face that's accentuated by sandy-red hair.

Polian, the man who has assembled the Colts over the past nine years and who created the Buffalo teams that went to four consecutive Super Bowls to start the 1990s, is considered many things in NFL circles. In 19 seasons as a general manager or president, his teams have made the playoffs 13 times, the conference championship seven times and the Super Bowl four times.

Polian has replaced