They had eight leis ready for members of the 49ers in Hawaii this week. So far, five won’t be used.
Joining running back Frank Gore, guard Mike Iupati, and defensive lineman Justin Smith as Niners who won’t be playing in the Pro Bowl are linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis.
Iupati and Bowman have injuries that clearly prevent them from playing. The other three possibly could play, but why would they want to travel to Hawaii only a day or two after suffering a hard-fought, deflating, season-ending loss in Seattle?
Via Tim Graham of the Buffalo News, they’ll be replaced by Derrick Johnson of the Chiefs and Paul Posluszny of the Jaguars.
As Graham points out, the designation of Johnson and Posluszny means that Bills rookie linebacker Kiko Alonso’s snub extends beyond the first two alternate positions.