Ray Lewis welcomes NFL back to Orlando for Pro Bowl Games
The Pro Bowl is back in town and everyone was excited Wednesday at the NFL’s kickoff press conference for the big event, which returns to Orlando after a two-year interlude in Las Vegas.
The game was held in Orlando from 2017-2020. The 2021 game was canceled due to COVID. The 2022 and 2023 games were in Las Vegas.
Pictures: NFL Pre Pro Bowl Celebration
Those in attendance at the kickoff event at Orlando’s Rock Lake Community Center were excited about the Pro Bowl, but most of the attention was given to NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, who is a big part of this year’s event.
Lewis, a 13-time Pro Bowl selection, will be the defensive coordinator for the AFC team for Sunday’s game at Camping World Stadium. Nine-time Pro Bowler DeMarcus Ware will be the DC for the NFC. Head coaches for the two teams will be the Manning brothers, with Peyton guiding the AFC and Eli leading the NFC.
“It’s actually incredible. … I’m 30 minutes away from my hometown,” said Lewis, who grew up in Lakeland. “So this grass is my grass. To come back and give the kids just a little bit of hope, that little bit of vision … It’s everything that I’ve always aspired to do in all of my work that I do now.”
Lewis, Ware, NFL official Peter O’Reilly, Orlando mayor Buddy Dyer, Orange County mayor Jerry Demings and Florida Citrus sports director Steve Hogan all talked to the crowd, much of which was made up of children from the Rock Lake Neighborhood Center.
The event was held at the center as part of a greening project, teaming the NFL, Verizon and Lowe’s with community volunteers to plant trees and revitalize the community center’s garden for the students.
There are 87 players on the NFL Pro Bowl roster.
This will be the second year of the NFL’s new format for the game. The teams will partake in a flag-football battle rather than traditional tackle football.
“We are thrilled, absolutely thrilled to have the Pro Bowl games back here in Orlando,” Dyer said. “It really highlights one of the things that I like to talk about, which is that we are the No. 1 premier sports destination city in the country.”
Not only will the Pro Bowl Games festivities be taking place, the U.S. Olympic Team will conduct qualifying for the men’s and women’s Olympic teams for this summer’s Paris Games. The top three male and female runners will advance after Saturday’s races.
The races get underway at Lake Eola with the men starting at 10:10 a.m. and the women at 10:20 a.m.
NFL Pro Bowl events begin Thursday night at UCF with the players’ skill challenge at 7 p.m. Sunday’s game will start after another segment of skills competitions at 3 p.m. at Camping World Stadium.
Asked if he thought he could make the transition to flag football if he were playing in these Pro Bowl games, Lewis said:
“For me? I ain’t pullin’ no flags. Even in a flag game, I’m still tackling.”
Chris Hays covers high school and college football, and college football recruiting for the Sentinel. He can be found on X @OS_ChrisHays and on Instagram @OS_ChrisHays. He can be reached at chays@orlandosentinel.com.
