Jamal Adams, Marshawn Lynch to play in 2021 Pro Bowl... on Madden

For obvious reasons, the actual Pro Bowl isn’t a thing this year. Ideally there’s no reason to even do this anymore because the players scarcely care and there are too many people who pull out of this exhibition game and leave you with diminished actual gameday rosters.

So what’s the plan for 2021? Well this has been known for awhile but I just blocked it off for so long until I realized we could use another post or two today.

At 12 PM PT on ESPN and ABC on Sunday. January 31st there will be a two-hour celebration of the Pro Bowl selections through highlights and interviews, along with a top-ten countdown of Chris Berman’s best plays of the season, and a bunch of other segments that you are almost certainly not going to watch.

Then there’s the “game.” No there’s no physical football, only virtual. At the start of this pandemic we had sporting events replaced by NBA 2K simulations and MLB: The Show simulation done with the actual broadcasters. Watching other people play video games is commonplace and you’ll get one last Seattle Seahawks appearance via Jamal Adams.

Per ESPN:

Deshaun Watson, Derrick Henry, Snoop Dogg and Keyshawn Johnson will represent the AFC. Kyler Murray, Jamal Adams, Bubba Wallace and Marshawn Lynch will represent the NFC.

Each player will play for one five-minute quarter — exact head-to-head matchups have not been determined — while playing from his home using the official AFC and NFC Pro Bowl rosters.

I don’t know how the roster usage will be divvied up but Jamal Adams is a Pro Bowl selection, ditto Quandre Diggs, Bobby Wagner, Russell Wilson, DK Metcalf, Tyler Ott, and Nick Bellore. Maybe one of Marshawn or Adams should play the 4th quarter because that’s when Seahawks tend to do their best work.

That virtual game live streams on Facebook, Youtube, and Twitch at 5 PM ET/2 PM PT and will be replayed on NFL Network at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT.