Tony Gonzalez made a spectacular TD catch to kick off the scoring for the AFC but offered no outrageous or penalty-inducing celebration. On Thursday, Vikings RB and last year’s Pro Bowl MVP Adrian Peterson said he had not yet planned what he would do if he made it into the end zone.

About an hour and a half before kickoff, as the NBC-tuned TVs in Aloha Stadium aired a Stanley Cup rematch on ice between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings, fans began to fill the sun-drenched stadium to island-themed music by Bob Marley.

In September 2007, Staff Sergeant Jamie Medinger was hit by an improvised explosive device (IED) that left him with broken bones, a dislocated knee and a leg full of shrapnel.

Peyton Manning is known as one of the biggest pranksters on the Indianapolis Colts. He’s showing why at the Pro Bowl, with Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez as his latest victim.

Cardinals QB Kurt Warner, Titans QB Kerry Collins, Vikings RB Adrian Peterson, and Vikings DTs Kevin and Pat Williams visited wounded soldiers who are recovering from injuries suffered in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The AFC Pro Bowl team welcomed three new members to practice on Thursday, as the three all-stars from the Pittsburgh Steelers -– James Farrior, James Harrison and Troy Polamalu -– practiced for the first time this week.

Kurt Warner‘s future with the Arizona Cardinals hinges on more than whether the team chooses to retain him, which doesn’t appear in doubt. The larger issue facing the 36-year-old QB is deciding whether he wants to continue to play.

Broncos QB Jay Cutler was welcomed to the Pro Bowl this week in much the same manner that many first-timers are — by being thrown into a pool. Prank organizer Peyton Manning was even thoughtful enough to have Cutler’s cell phone removed beforehand. But, according to the Denver Post, the Ashton Kutcher wannabes forgot one small detail.

Down the hall from the NFC locker room at the players’ hotel, the NFL auction headquarters would have a beautiful view — if it weren’t for the boxes stacked to the ceiling.

The NFC all-stars got back to work Wednesday, practicing at Kapolei High School, on another cool (OK, relatively cool — this is Hawaii) morning.

Each Pro Bowl team is led by the coach of the team that lost in that conference’s championship game. John Harbaugh, the rookie coach whose Baltimore Ravens fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers 23-14 in the AFC Championship Game, said he wasn’t able to fully get over that loss until Super Bowl XLIII had been played. A Super Bowl that Harbaugh didn’t even watch.

For the second year in a row, Pro Bowl players practiced at Kapolei High School, a few miles from their hotel. The football stadium is still under construction, as the press box was only half standing, and crews in hard hats building new bleachers stopped what they were doing to watch the AFC all-stars pour onto the field for the first of three practices leading up to the Pro Bowl on Sunday at Aloha Stadium.

It’s surprising, at least to me, at how many people who are here for Super Bowl week and not the Super Bowl.

It’s pretty clear that Philip Rivers is playing with a certain amount of vengeance in his heart today. He has to be.

While most teams are making their playoff push, certain players are making their Pro-Bowl push.

Tuesday is the final day for fan voting for the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which means Sunday’s game will be the last impression that players leave with voters.