AFC 45 - NFC 20
(February 2, 2003)

The 2003 Pro Bowl saw another AFC win, during which the defense forced six interceptions. A crowd of 50,125 saw the game at the Aloha Stadium. The coaches were Steve Fisher of the Titans and Andy Reid of the Eagles.

Miami’s Ricky Williams got the AFC off to a fast start after teammate Jason Taylor intercepted 49er Jeff Garcia's pass near midfield on the opening possession. Williams broke an 18 yard run on the AFC's first offensive play before scoring easily from the one three plays later. The NFC countered when Michael Lewis of New Orleans returned the kick off 47 yards to the AFC 46. Philadelphia’s David Akers kicked a 45 yard field goal. But, the AFC came right back with an 11 yard touchdown pass from Rich Gannon of Oakland to Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez. The score at the end of the first period was 14-3. In the second quarter, Gannon hit Buffalo’s Travis Henry with a 13 yard touchdown pass. The NFC’s Akers then followed with the longest field goal in Pro Bowl history from 53 yards. Williams scored on a 1 yard run with :47 to play in the half and the AFC led 28-6. On the final play of the half, Oakland's Rod Woodson intercepted Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb's pass near the goal line and started a return featuring several laterals, a fumble and at least one illegal forward pass, negating it all. The return stretched 97 yards before Taylor flopped into the end zone for a touchdown that didn't count.

The only scoring of the third quarter came on a 20 yard field goal by the Patriots’ Adam Venatieri. In the 4th quarter, New England's Ty Law returned one of Brad Johnson's passes 43 yards for a touchdown. It was Law’s second interception return in the Pro Bowl (1999). Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward caught a 32 yard touchdown pass from the Colts’ Peyton Manning with 7:31 remaining and the AFC led 45-6. The NFC did manage to score on two late touchdown passes. Brad Johnson hit New Orleans’ Joe Horn from 12 yards out and Tampa’s Mike Alstott with a 4 yard touchdown pass. The final score was 45-20. The AFC nearly broke the Pro Bowl record of 51 points set by the NFC in 2000. But Buffalo's Eric Moulds was ruled out of bounds in the end zone with 1:24 left after catching a 36 yard pass from Manning.

In his first Pro Bowl, Ricky Williams rushed for 56 yards, caught three passes for 18 yards, scored two touchdowns and forced a fumble on special teams to earn the MVP award. The AFC beat the NFC for its sixth victory in the last seven Pro Bowls. Starting quarterback Rich Gannon, the MVP of the regular season and the previous two Pro Bowls, went 12-for-18 for 102 yards and two TDs. Akers’ field goal broke the record of 52 yards shared by Sam Baker of Washington and Bert Richichar of the Colts, both hitting that mark in the 1957 Pro Bowl.

ROSTER