Za'Darius Smith to Compete in Pro Bowl Skills Competition
The first edition of the new-look NFL Pro Bowl will feature flavor from a former Kentucky Wildcat. After his first season in Minnesota, the Vikings’ Za’Darius Smith was selected to the 2023 Pro Bowl Games. Tonight he’ll get to show off skills he does not typically display on the gridiron.
Za’Darius Smith is bringing his sticks to Vegas. He’ll be one of four NFC representatives in tonight’s long drive competition. You might be asking yourself, “Is Za’Darius Smith a good golfer?” The answer is ‘no.’ In fact, he does not even know how to correctly hold a golf club, but that doesn’t stop him from smacking the snot out of the ball.
The long drive competition is one of three events taking place tonight that has nothing to do with football. There will also be a “Lightning Round” obstacle course and an NFC vs. AFC Dodgeball game.
The league is also incorporating a few football-related competitions. There is a precision passing contest and a best catch competition taking place tonight. This Sunday the specialists will play a game of “Kick Tac Toe” and there will be a tug-of-war competition prior to the inaugural flag football game.
This will be the third time in four years Za’Darius Smith has appeared in the pro bowl. His only absence was after he missed the entire 2021 campaign with a back injury. This year he tallied 44 tackles, 15 for loss, 10 sacks, 5 pass deflections and a forced fumble to help the Vikings win the NFC North, taking the throne from his former team, the Green Bay Packers.
Big Z was one of Mark Stoops’ first high-profile recruits at Kentucky. The JUCO prospect had 11 sacks and 15 TFLs in 2013-14 before he was picked in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens.
You can watch all of tonight’s hi-jinx on ESPN, beginning at 7 pm EST. The rest of the action from the Pro Bowl Games will resume in Las Vegas Sunday at 3 pm on ABC, ESPN and Disney XD.
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