The Pro Bowl, as was the entire sports world and beyond, was overshadowed Sunday by the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter in a helicopter crash earlier in the day.
NFL players began learning of it shortly before kickoff in Orlando, Fla., and according to Green Bay linebacker Za’Darius Smith, it was Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson who gathered the NFC team for a prayer as the news began to sink in.
“He called us up and said a prayer for his family,” Smith said during the ESPN telecast of the game, which was won 38-33 by the AFC.