When the NFL puts as much importance in Pro Bowl attendance as it has for this year’s Miami pre-Super Bowl event, one wonders what it would actually take to be not only excused from the proceedings, but to get booted out of the whole thing altogether. Well, if you’re curious, you can ask Minnesota Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie (notes) , because he’d know.

((HT: CBS/NFL))Former Philadelphia Eagles star Tom Brookshier has died at 78.The Eagles said he had cancer and died Friday night.Brookshier was an All-Pro defensive back who played on the Eagles' 1960 championship team.

((HT: CBS/NFL))Former Philadelphia Eagles star Tom Brookshier has died at 78.The Eagles said he had cancer and died Friday night.Brookshier was an All-Pro defensive back who played on the Eagles' 1960 championship team.

When DeSean Jackson signed with Drew Rosenhaus this season you knew that it probably meant trouble. They couldn’t do anything during the season, but now that the season is over it’s a different story. Jackson is signed through 2011 but is not scheduled to make the kind of money a Pro Bowl receiver earns (he’s scheduled to make less than a third of what Reggie Brown makes)

Donovan McNabb (notes) on why he thinks he’ll be back with the Philadelphia Eagles next season: “I have a psychic and she told me; she said, ‘Good things are to happen in Philadelphia and it’s going to be really good for you,’ ” McNabb said while doing his best Jamaican psychic impersonation. ” ‘Just relax

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.

The 2009 Arizona Cardinals were a difficult team to gauge at times. Their season consisted of a list of “did” and “did not” moments.

• Big Pat Williams of the Vikings said he’s considering retirement , too. He put the probability at 50-50.

Because of the Super Bowl participants (obviously) not playing in the Pro Bowl, Donovan McNabb and Quintin Mikell are heading to Miami. Congrats to those guys, but this is why playing the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl is a stupid idea

Many people, media members and fans alike, denounced the promotions of Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew after the 0-16 debacle. Why shouldn’t they? Both men worked under the general manager with the worst record in NFL history.