The 1981

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

was the NFL's 31st annual

all-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

which featured the outstanding performers from the 1980 season. The game was played on Sunday, February 1, 1981, at

Aloha Stadium Aloha Stadium is a closed multi-purpose stadium located in Halawa, Hawaii, a western suburb of Honolulu (though with a Honolulu address). It is the largest stadium in the state of Hawaii. , the stadium ceased fan-attended operations indefinitely ...

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...

. The final score was

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

21, AFC 7.

Sam Rutigliano Sam William Rutigliano (born July 1, 1931) is a former American football coach and current television football analyst for WEWS, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland. He served as the head coach for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football Leagu ...

of the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

led the AFC team against an

team coached by

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

head coach

Leeman Bennett Leeman Bennett (born June 20, 1938) is a former American football coach who served at both the collegiate and professional levels, but is best remembered as head coach of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. ...

. The referee was

Gordon McCarter Gordon McCarter (May 26, 1931 − December 20, 2002) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) from 1967 to 1995. He joined the NFL as a line judge and back judge (now known as the field judge) in 1967 before being pro ...

. Rookie placekicker

Eddie Murray Eddie Clarence Murray (born February 24, 1956), nicknamed "Steady Eddie," is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) first baseman, designated hitter, and coach. Spending most of his MLB career with the Baltimore Orioles, he ranks fourth ...

of the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

was named the game's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Players on the winning NFC team received $5,000 apiece while the AFC participants each took home $2,500. The game was the first in NFL history played in February.

AFC roster

Offense

Defense

Special teams

NFC roster

Offense

Defense

Special teams

References

External links

* {{NFL on ABC Pro Bowl

American football in Hawaii Sports in Honolulu February 1981 sports events in the United States