Pittsburgh Steelers safety and special teams ace Miles Killebrew was flawless during the High Stakes competition at the Pro Bowl Games in Orlando on Thursday night. Killebrew and Minkah Fitzpatrick are the two Steelers participating in this week’s events. T.J. Watt opted out from participating after suffering a Grade 2 sprain to the MCL in his left knee late in the Steelers’ 17-10 win in Baltimore on Jan. 6.
Replacing last year’s lightning-round competition, High Stakes is a pared-down version of that contest that focuses just on catching punts. The player who catches the most footballs without dropping wins the competition and earns points for his conference. Killebrew is known for blocking punts, not for catching them. He caught six footballs that were launched from the JUGS machine to bring home the win for the AFC.
“I’ll tell you what, I was about net deep in prayer. I didn’t know what I was going to do, just went out there and got it done. Glory to God,” Killebrew told former Steelers free safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark after winning the competition.
With it being his first time selected to the Pro Bowl, Clark asked Killebrew what it’s like to get a chance to be around top-notch talent in Orlando.
“It’s amazing. A part of me feels like I’m undercover. Hanging out with all these great players. It’s just an honor. I’m truly humbled, and it’s been a lot of fun,” Killebrew answered.
Killebrew, who’s a special teams captain, had a game-changing blocked punt that resulted in a safety in the Steelers’ Week 5 win over the Baltimore Ravens. He also had a partially blocked punt against the New England Patriots in Week 14. Killebrew has three blocked punts since joining the team in 2021, which is tied for the most among all teams, not just players, since that time.
Pro Bowl games roster choices are determined by the consensus vote of fans, players, and coaches. Only the fan votes are tabulated ahead of time.
The Pro Bowl Games showcase 88 players’ talents in a new format that started in 2022. The AFC vs. NFC competition will be capped by a flag football game on Sunday. The NFC took a 12-6 overall lead after the first six events on Thursday. The dodgeball event, which featured Fitzpatrick, ended in a draw, with the NFC and AFC splitting the two games. The remaining skills challenges and the three flag-football games will wrap things up on Sunday.
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