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 The
1981 Pro Bowl was played
before 50,360 fans in
Honolulu. The coaches for
the game were Leeman Bennett
of the Flacons and Sam
Rutigliano Cleveland. The
game will always be
remembered for the heroic
effort by a Detroit Lions
rookie kicker. It was a low
scoring game dominated by
the defenses.
Eddie Murray of Detroit
connected on a first period
field goal from 31 yards out
and that was all the scoring
for either side in the first
quarter. In the second
quarter the AFC responded
with a 9 yard touchdown pass
from Cleveland's Brian Sipe to
Stanley Morgan of the
Patriots. Murray hit his second and
third field goals, from 31
and 34 yards in the second
quarter to make the halftime
score 9-7.
There was no scoring in the
third quarter and the final
period began with the
outcome very much in
question. In the fourth
quarter, Steve Bartkowski of
Atlanta fired a 55 yard
scoring pass to his Falcon
teammate, Alfred Jenkins, to
make the score 16-7.
Jenkins, who replaced
Dallas’ Tony Hill on the
roster, led all receivers
with 3 catches for 91 yards.
Murray kicked his fourth
field goal from 36 yards out
to bring the lead to 19-7.
The scoring was completed
when the AFC’s Art Shell was
called for holding in the
end zone and the NFC was
awarded a safety and two
points. The final was 21-17
The NFC defense had held the
explosive AFC to only seven
points behind outstanding
play Tampa’s Lee Roy Selmon,
Bob Breunig of Dallas and Jack
Reynolds of Los Angeles.
Selmon logged four tackles
and two sacks. Murray was
awarded the MVP for his four
field goal effort. In the
last 22 seconds of the game,
Murray just missed tying
Garo Yepremian's Pro Bowl
record of five field goals
when his 37 yard attempt hit
the crossbar.
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