The active player captains for the 2016 Pro Bowl will be DTGENO ATKINS, WR ODELL BECKHAM, JR., DT AARON DONALD and RB DEVONTA FREEMAN, the NFL announced today. Atkins and Freeman will be paired together, while Beckham and Donald will work as a duo.
These four captains will help determine rosters for Team Irvin and Team Rice during the Pro Bowl Draft presented by USAA which will be nationally televised on Wednesday, January 27 on ESPN2 (7:30 PM ET).
Pro Football Hall of Famers MICHAEL IRVIN and JERRY RICE will serve as NFL Legends captains for their Pro Bowl squads – Team Irvin and Team Rice – and will select their coaching staff. Irvin and Rice return for the second time after being the winning captains during the previous two Pro Bowls.
Five-time Pro Bowler DARREN WOODSON (Team Irvin) and two-time Pro Bowler ERIC DAVIS (Team Rice) will serve as defensive co-captains. The NFL legends will also each be assisted by one NFL.com fantasy football champion in the draft process.
The Pro Bowl will continue using the revised game format that debuted with the 2014 game, with NFL Legends captains having final say over Pro Bowl Draft decisions. The Pro Bowl will remain "unconferenced," with several key playing rules changed. Players were selected without regard to conference in voting by fans, coaches and players and will later be assigned to teams via the Pro Bowl Draft.
To determine which team owns the first selection in the Pro Bowl Draft and how the NFL Legends captains will be paired with active player captains, there will be a coin toss following the Pro Bowl Kickoff Press Conference on Tuesday evening, January 26.
The 2016 Pro Bowl presented by USAA will be played on Sunday, January 31, 2016 and televised live on ESPN at 7:00 PM ET from Aloha Stadium in Hawaii.
