NFL announces the end of the Pro Bowl |
At long last, the NFL has decided to eliminate the Pro Bowl. That news should make a ton of NFL fans happy, as the Pro Bowl game has become a joke compared to what it was years ago.
From a player's side, getting voted into the pro bowl means you are recognized for your work during the regular season. Whether or not some of those players deserve to be in is another question, but the fans decide who goes, so there shouldn't be much of an argument. When it comes to the Pro Bowl, or at least the game itself, putting it the week before the Superbowl is a dumb idea as many players choose not to play in the game at that point. I have said all along that with every team in the NFL having a bye week and now an 18-game season, why not use week 10 as the universal bye week for all teams and put the pro bowl in for week 10. Teams wouldn't go for that, but most of the players voted in would probably show up as that would follow the trend of the rest of the all-star games across the major sports world. With the Pro Bowl game being eliminated, some might wonder what is coming next. Well, it looks like the NFL is sticking with what they did a season ago and then building off it as the Pro Bowl games will be introduced. What we know about this so far, the NFL has decided to use an entire week for the pro bowl games, which will be a bunch of skills competitions to keep fans engaged. There will also be a flag football game added into the mix to replace the full contact game that has been going on since 1951. This seems interesting, but I am intrigued and excited by this, and what types of skills games are introduced. The Pro Bowl Games will be a week-long series of competitions, which a flag football game will highlight. Considering how the Pro Bowl became a flag football game, this evolution makes sense. In addition to flag football, there will be skills competitions of the football and non-football variety in which players will get to strut their stuff. What else could be on the table? I’m hoping for some off-the-wall stuff. How about offensive lineman throwing passes to their QBs? How about the defense playing offense and the offense playing defense? Why not go out there and do an offensive lineman relay race finished by a pie-eating contest? The possibilities are endless for what types of games they can use, and with the pro bowl not until February 5, there is plenty of time to figure it out. From where I am standing, I expect a lot of what we saw last year regarding the dodgeball competition, accuracy throws, best catch, etc. However, I also expect to see some of what you see in the NFL combine introduced. You may see the fastest man competition for the 40-yard dash or the full 100-yard sprint. You could see an agility contest to see the most athletic player. How about a strong-man contest to determine the strongest player in the NFL? All those make a ton of sense, and it would be great television for even the casual NFL fan. However, the one competition that needs to come back is the old QB games from the late 1990s. Not only did the QBs have to go through an obstacle course while using their agility and athletic ability to make throws, but they also had an opportunity to show off their arms and see how far they could throw the football. When you look at the QBs in this league with Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson, to name a few, this would be an incredible display if this was brought back. Until we get to the point when the games are announced, it becomes a waiting game filled with anticipation. Regardless, this was the right move, and the NFL seems to have gotten something right where a change improves the game.
