There were a few heads scratched last year when the Pro Bowl was moved to the week before the Super Bowl instead following it per the norm.

“What about the guys going to the Super Bowl?” some people pondered. “Where’s their all expense trip to hot tub haven? Should they be punished just for being good?”

Turns out, making it to the big game is sweet enough for those Super Bowl bound, and the fans have also responded in a big way to the move.

“I’m fine with it,” said Terry Bradshaw who will be calling the game with Brian Billick this Sunday, Jan. 30. (FOX 7 p.m. ET) “There are still going to be plenty of stars here even with the missing players.”

FOX Sports producer Scott Ackerson, who hit Hawaii’s links with Bradshaw yesterday and today, also praised the move when they both called in for a press call.

“At first it looked sort of weird to have it before, but from a numbers standpoint, instead of having eight million viewers like we did two years ago, there were 12 million last year which is a 50 percent increase,” said Ackerson. “It made a difference to fans because they’re still engrossed in the season.”

Bradshaw, who was selected to three Pro Bowls, couldn’t help but lament about the one that got away when Dan Rooney pulled him from it in 1976 after he had his bell rung in Super Bowl X against the Cowboys.

“I wasn’t devastated because I wasn’t going to play another game, but because you got $2,500 if you won and I wasn’t making that much money then,” said Bradshaw. “So I asked Dan, do I still get my $2,500 for being whacked in the head, but he said no and I tell ya I was just sick to my stomach.”

Not that Bradshaw still isn’t complaining about the Benjamins and his lack of endorsements despite being told today that he has the best marketability out of anyone in sports media according to Nielsen’s annual report.

Although in his defense, it has been quite awhile since the “Jog & Lift.”

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