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A week ago, the Pro Bowl had zero Detroit Lions in it. Now there will be three players down in Orlando for the festivities.
After the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, Falcons kicker Matt Bryant was no longer going to play in the Pro Bowl for which he was selected. That promoted Lions kicker Matt Prater from the first alternate position to official Pro Bowl player.
Although Prater will be the only Lions player playing in the game itself, he didn’t want to be the only representative in Orlando with him. Prater invited fellow special teamers Sam Martin and Don Muhlbach to be there with him for the festivities:
Don Muhlbach and Sam Martin came to Orlando to support fellow special teamer Matt Prater in the Pro Bowl pic.twitter.com/hj5cQj10s1
— Tori Petry (@sportstori) January 29, 2017
This is a nice gesture from the two-time Pro Bowler, seeing as Prater’s success in 2016 relied upon a good snap from Muhlbach and a perfect hold from Martin.
An argument could be made that Martin deserves to be there just as much as Prater does. The Lions punter averaged the third-highest net punting average in NFL history. Unfortunately for Martin, Rams punter Johnny Hekker set the record this year, edging out Martin by 1.8 net yard per punt.
Muhlbach is no stranger to the Pro Bowl, however. The Lions long snapper made the all-star event in 2012, becoming the first ever non-kicking, punting or returning specialist from Detroit to ever make the team.
Prater also took this opportunity to revisit his alma-mater, the University of Central Florida, which is less than 20 miles away from where the Pro Bowl is being played this year. You can check out video of his visit below:
A #ProBowl perk for @MattPrater_5? Getting to come back to where it all began.
— UCF Football (@UCF_Football) January 28, 2017
Check out his tour of campus pic.twitter.com/mp1hJ8FCXH