Atlanta Falcons land Julio Jones, Devin Hester in Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl rosters were announced on Tuesday, and in following the “real life fantasy football,” spirit, the game will once again be an un-conferenced affair, with Michael Irvin and Chris Carter being this year’s captains. Riveting, I know.

Actually, for fans of the Atlanta Falcons, there might be some intrigue, as two Dirty Birds have been named to the contest in Juilo Jones and Devin Hester. Why does this add intrigue? Well, because they might matchup on opposite teams, of course!

Okay, that might be stretching it, but still, to think after a season like the Falcons have had that they’ll put two teams in the Pro Bowl? Not bad, not bad.

Julio is a no-brainer. He’s averaging a career high 109.6 yards per game and has an NFL leading 1,535 yards on 100 catches (having not caught only 55 of his targets). Six touchdowns accompany those league-leading numbers, and there’s still four quarters of regular season football to go.

Hester, on the other hand, is a bit of a wild card, but maybe it makes more sense when you realize that he’s going to the game as a kick returner. I don’t know why it seems this way, but it seems like Hester hasn’t made much of an impact in the return game, and boy would you be wrong if you shared my thought process. He’s returned 42 kick offs for 1,021 yards and is averaging 24.3 yards per return. He has also returned 18 punts for 240 yards, and the record breaking touchdown on Thursday Night Football against the Bucs. It will be interesting, though, to see if whatever team he lands on utilizes him as a receiver.

So, we have a pair of Dirty Birds heading to Glendale, Arizona for the Pro Bowl. Does this make the game any more interesting for you as an Atlanta Falcons fan? Let us know in a comment below or on Twitter @ATLBeatBlog.