The Pro Bowl understandably is geared towards the skill position players, but the offensive and defensive linemen can have fun too, right? Bucs left tackle Tristan Wirfs sure took advantage of that on Sunday in between the flag football games when the skills competition went on.
The rules have changed a bit for the Pro Bowl now that it’s not just a traditional game. The flag football game between the AFC and NFC taking place in Orlando, Florida, still counts for the most points, but there are also ways for each team to gain points throughout the week and in between quarters as well. And that’s when it was time for Tristan Wirfs to shine.
Tristan Wirfs Manhandles The Competition
In between the first and second quarter, a competition was set up for the offensive and defensive linemen called “Move The Chains.” Essentially, it’s a strength and speed competition where each team has to pull 3,000 pounds of weight off of a giant wall to then pull a 2,000 pound wall across a finish line. Each is placed next to a rung with several weights on it that they need to take off first before running to the other side and start pulling.
Tristan Wirfs absolutely dominated this event as he was the first lineman in the whole competition to get his weights off and move to the next part of the competition. At the time when he pulled off his last weight, Wirfs was slightly hit by another from the lineman next to him, but didn’t derail him in any way.
It is still a team game, so Wirfs had to wait for the rest of his NFC teammates to come along so they can all pull, but it was nice to see the Bucs’ left tackle be the first to get his team going. Eventually, the NFC beat the AFC in the competition by a close margin at the finish. Here’s how it looked.
After the win, Tristan Wirfs and some of his teammates were asked what it was like going through the event. Comically, he was still winded and it took him a couple of seconds to gather himself before finishing with a response. Typical for the star left tackle that it was all effort, all the time.
“You got to take all the weight off,” Wirfs said. “We did it last year. If there’s any (other) way, you can’t move it. That was the plan going in. You got to get all the weight off.”
Tristan Wirfs will likely be involved in another group competition in between quarters. If Bucs fans are wondering about quarterback Baker Mayfield, he’ll be playing in the fourth quarter to close out the game.
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