Pro Bowl talent, or just lucky?

Here’s a headline we never expected before this NFL season started: “Romo, Rivers make Pro Bowl.” Tony Romo, who had spent the previous three seasons on the sidelines watching Drew Bledsoe and Quincy Carter undo Dallas, made the NFC squad as a backup quarterback.

Philip Rivers, entering this season with zero starts and 30 pass attempts on his NFL resume, made the AFC team as a reserve.

Is this a reflection on two up-and-comers who finally got their chance and made the most of it -- or on the sorry state of NFL quarterbacking in general?

A closer look:

NFC: Drew Brees to start, backed up by Marc Bulger and Romo.

How this happened: Donovan McNabb and Matt Hasselbeck got hurt. Bledsoe got benched. Eli Manning got rattled. Brett Favre got old. Michael Vick got snubbed, as a running back.

AFC: Peyton Manning to start, backed up by Carson Palmer and Rivers.

How this happened: Jake Plummer was on borrowed time. Tom Brady was stranded without a wideout. Ben Roethlisberger was day-to-day, most days. Trent Green -- too little. Vince Young -- too late.

Trivia time

Vick, with 990 yards in 2006, holds the NFL record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a single season. Who holds the record for most career touchdown passes thrown by a non-quarterback?

Also snubbed: The game

It has become a cherished and time-honored American holiday tradition: Yelping about all the deserving players who were snubbed by the Pro Bowl voting.

Brady and Buffalo wide receiver Lee Evans are among this season’s high-profile snubs. Maybe they both would have made it if they played on the same team.

Philadelphia running back Brian Westbrook was another snub. The news of his 1,756 total yards from scrimmage was evidently swept under the Allen Iverson trade frenzy.

Terrell Owens was also snubbed, definitive proof that the Pro Bowl voting truly is a popularity contest.

Funny about all this hand-wringing, though. Everybody has an opinion about who did and didn’t make the Pro Bowl, yet nobody watches the game.

Rocky XXXI

Former light-heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver was cast to play the opponent in the new Rocky movie, “Rocky Balboa,” partly because Sylvester Stallone says none of his 31 phone calls to Roy Jones Jr. were returned.

Stallone told USA Today, “I called HBO, and one of their high-ranking officials said, ‘Don’t worry. We pay him, and he still doesn’t return our phone calls.’ ” Then again, Rocky’s getting up there in years. Jones might have called back and Stallone just couldn’t hear the phone ring.

Ashes to ashes

Allan Fairlie-Clarke is Scottish and unemployed, but he still was desperate to watch England’s cricket team compete in the Ashes in Australia.

So he sold his house, worth 180,000 pounds (about $352,000), to raise money for the trip.

Clarke, 31, told the Mirror he didn’t regret his decision, even though England surrendered the trophy to Australia after trailing, 3-0, in the five-Test series.

“I was born in Edinburgh,” Clarke said, “but when it comes to cricket there isn’t much alternative to supporting England, is there?” According to the Mirror, Clarke is divorced, which probably goes without saying.

Trivia answer

Walter Payton, with eight.

And finally

From David Letterman’s “Top Ten Ways The Knicks Can Improve Their Image:” 10) “Donate one dollar to charity for every punch thrown this season.” 9) “Get the Russians to poison opponents.” 8) “If a player falls into the stands during a brawl, you get to keep him.” 6) “Do what Kobe Bryant does -- start handing out diamond rings.” 5) “Change team name from Knickerbockers to something more whimsical like Snickerdoodles.” 3) “Free Tums to fans who feel dyspeptic.” 2) “Add hilarious cartoon sound effects to game-time beat downs.”

mike.penner@latimes.com