Pro Bowl appearance bittersweet for Gostkowski

New Jersey or Waikiki in the dead of winter. Easy choice, right? Yes, but for Stephen Gostkowski and his professional colleagues congregating here this week, the answer is the opposite of just about everyone else’s.

Gostkowski would much rather be preparing for a football game in possible blizzard conditions at MetLife Stadium next weekend than getting his kicks at balmy Aloha Stadium this Sunday.

All of the NFL players here this week feel the same way. And Gostkowski, the New England Patriots kicker, is among the handful who came the closest to heading east rather than west after last week’s conference championship games. Pats special-teamer Matthew Slater is in the same conflicted state as Gostkowski.

"It is bittersweet," Slater said. "I’m so humbled by the honor to be here, but at the same time you wish you were back in New England preparing with your teammates for the ultimate prize, and we’re not going to rest until we can get back to that game."

And, in a curious twist, Gostkowski is here because he’s a replacement for Matt Prater — the Broncos kicker originally voted into the Pro Bowl but going instead to the Super Bowl after Denver beat New England 26-16 in the AFC title game.

But this isn’t bad when it comes to consolation prizes.

"Mentally it’s tough right now to be doing anything with football because it’s such a long season, a long grind and to come up just short," Gostkowski said after Thursday’s "Team Rice" practice at sun-splashed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. "But it’s so much easier to get over it when you come to Hawaii and hang at the beach and you’re around a bunch of really good professional athletes."

New England quarterback Tom Brady was among the no-shows, but aside from Patriots fans, most folks don’t seem to mind since he was replaced by one of the next wave of exciting young QBs, Andrew Luck of the Colts.

Gostkowski said he never considered passing on the Pro Bowl.

"You know it still stings a little bit, but it is an honor to be here. To be invited and not show up, I think that’s a little bit disrespectful. And who knows if I’ll ever get another chance to come here? So I’m glad to be here."

As he was in 2009, his other Pro Bowl appearance. Gostkowski kicked no field goals but three extra points in the AFC’s 30-21 loss to the NFC. If Commissioner Roger Goodell’s idea of eliminating extra points had been in play then, Gostkowski would still be looking for his first Pro Bowl points. Obviously he’s not too thrilled with Goodell’s latest thinking out loud.

"I don’t like too much change to the game, especially if it affects my job directly. I think the game’s pretty cool how it is. I’d rather them move it back than eliminate it," he said. "The kickers keep getting better and better. I guess they just want to bring them down a little. But I think we’re a very integral part of the game and having a good one is very important to have. A lot of games are won or lost by three points or less. To take away from that would be taking away from the game."