Tag: bowlers

CLEVELAND — Amid what has been a tumultuous and disappointing season, the Cleveland Browns still have individual efforts being recognized in the form of Pro Bowl selections, with three of Cleveland’s players named starters and six others named alternates.

Defensive end Myles Garrett, wide receiver Jerry Jeudy and cornerback Denzel Ward were all selected for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games. Garrett and Jeudy have been named as starters.

Garrett is leading the NFL for most tackles for loss this season with 21, tied for the league lead with 14 sacks. This season he has reached career milestones including surpassing 100 career sacks and was the youngest player to do so, recording 100.5 before he turned 29. Last week, he became the first player in NFL history to record at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons.

This is Garrett’s sixth time being selected to the Pro Bowl, the most by a Browns defensive player and tied for the fourth-most in team history.

Jeudy, who is in his first year with the Browns after being traded from the Denver Broncos this spring, notched his first career season with over 1,000 receiving yards. He leads the team in receptions this season with 84.

This is Jeudy’s first career Pro Bowl selection.

Ward, on the other hand, is no stranger to the Pro Bowl—this selection marks the fourth in his career.

The Browns cornerback leads the NFL in most passes defended with 19, a career-high, in addition to his two interceptions this year.

In addition to Garrett, Jeudy and Ward being selected for the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, six other players were named alternates.

Left guard Joel Bitonio, punter Corey Bojorquez, running back Nick Chubb, tight end David Njoku, linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and right guard Wyatt Teller were all selected as alternates.

Bitonio, who has been selected to six Pro Bowls, is in his 11th NFL season. He was selected for the Pro Bowl each season between 2018 and 2023. This season, Bitonio has allowed just three sacks and four QB hits.

In 2023 with the Browns. Bojorquez was named a Pro Bowl alternate as well. This season, Bojorquez has been one of the few bright spots on the Browns. He has punted a league-high 84 times for 4,171 yards. He owns the longest punt of the NFL season to date, an 84-yarder against the Raiders in Week 4. He has the third most punts inside the 20 with 36.

Chubb, a highly respected player around the league and a fan favorite, made his return to game action after a year of rehabbing his brutal knee injury that ended his season in Week 2 last year. He returned in Week 7 and appeared to be coming into form just before sustaining another season-ending injury—a broken foot in Week 15 against the Chiefs. While he wouldn’t be able to participate in the Pro Bowl Games, to be named an alternate is still a high honor.

Njoku, who was named to the 2023 Pro Bowl Games, has been a main target for Browns quarterbacks all season, regardless of who was at the helm. He’s been targeted 90 times this season, catching 64 passes for 505 yards and five touchdowns. Njoku has battled various injuries this season, including a high ankle sprain, a hamstring and a knee injury.

Like Chubb, Owusu-Koramoah is dealing with an injury that won’t see him participate in the Pro Bowl this year despite being named an alternate. Owusu-Koramoah sustained a scary neck injury in Week 8’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens. While attempting a tackle, Owusu-Koramoah took a hit and appeared unconscious on the field. Trainers rushed out, and while the linebacker came to, he was immobilized, loaded onto the cart and taken off the field for further evaluation.

Before the injury, Owusu-Koramoah had recorded 41 total tackles with three sacks, a forced fumble, a pass defended and an interception. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl last year.

Teller, a three-time Pro Bowler, last earned a selection last season. This year, Teller missed five games with a knee injury that saw him placed on injured reserve, returning in Week 8. Teller has allowed just two sacks this season and four QB hits.

The 2025 Pro Bowl Games will be played on Sunday, Feb. 2, as the players voted as the best in the league go head-to-head in various competitions. Sunday’s events will be televised from 3 to 6 p.m. on News 5.

Here’s a list of the new competitions featured across the weekend of Pro Bowl Game events, which will join other established events like the AFC vs. NFC flag football game and other skills challenges:

Thursday, Jan. 30:

• Passing The Test: Quarterbacks try to hit targets at various distances around the field worth different point values in 40 seconds. Before the challenge, each quarterback will select a Pro Bowl Games teammate to answer five trivia questions about current Pro Bowl players. For every correct answer, the quarterback gets an additional 10 seconds. The competition’s winner is the team with the quarterback who scores the most points.
• Satisfying Catches presented by SNICKERS^®: One wide receiver, tight end and defensive back from each conference will compete in a challenge obstacle course, including catches from a jugs machine at three different distances, to test every aspect of catching a football. Each teammate will complete the course back-to-back with the lowest combined time winning the challenge.
• Relay Race: A simultaneous relay-style event where four players from each conference complete a 40-yard dash before handing a football to the next athlete on their team, continuing until the fourth and final leg crosses the finish line. The conferences will compete in three rounds, with the fastest team winning.
• Helmet Harmony: A game show to test players knowledge of their teammates, with every correct answer worth one point. The team with the most correct answers wins.
• Dodgeball presented by Bud Light: A three-round tournament of classic dodgeball featuring six teams of five players. Teams will be a mix of AFC offensive, defensive and special teams players competing against a mix of NFC offensive, defensive and special teams players.

Sunday, Feb. 2:

• Punt Perfect: Two players (one punter, one non-punter) from each conference punt from the 35-yard line, attempting to place as many punts as possible into six buckets in the end zone. Each bucket is worth one point, with every fifth punt worth three points. The two players with the highest combined score will be the winners.
• The Great Football Race: Six players from each conference will compete in a relay race consisting of five different challenges, culminating in a sled push. The team that crosses the finish line first wins.
• Tug-of-War: A five-on-five demonstration of teamwork, strength and strategy, and positioned above a foam pit, players are challenged to pull backward on the rope, attempting to move the opposing team in their direction. The competition will be the best of three, and the winner who pulls the opposing team into the foam pit twice wins.