Why It’s Good that the Pro Bowl Is No More

As a teenager in the mid-2000’s, I looked forward to watching the NFL’s best compete in the Pro Bowl, so I could see the likes of Michael Vick, Jerome Bettis, Randy Moss, Charles Woodson, Brian Urlacher and more. It was a fun and competitive event where players actually wanted to win and even the star players gave it their all, to commence the NFL season after the Super Bowl!

Now, in the past decade or so, the Pro Bowl has been on the decline. Why? Lack of star players, the action started to become more stale and lackluster, as well as the players looking for a quick buck. I get that they didn’t want to risk injury, but the fans work hard to pay their hard-earned money to watch their favorite stars compete. Because of this, the fans get ripped off.

Plus, it’s good that the Pro Bowl is no more, since the players are barred from playing defense (e.g. Blitzing) and just want a quick, high-scoring game. Then again, it’s the politics of the current state of the NFL.

Also, when they moved it from Honolulu, Hawaii (With the exception of 2010 and 2015, where they held it annually since 1980 back in 2016), it lost so much personality and its competitive luster.

What should replace the Pro Bowl, is that the NFL should do a 7-on-7 challenge, where the best players of each conferences’ division (NFC and AFC East/North/South/West) can have a tournament and have it lack full contact with pads. Another thing they can do is have a flag football tournament with each conference, where the winning team gets paid a large sum of money.

Plus, I know this may be a stretch for many football fans, but they should have a “bye” week and move the Pro Bowl during mid-season, just like the NBA, NHL and MLB would do. I believe it will make the game more competitive, having it hold more weight.

Dear NFL…Please make changes to the Pro Bowl format, if you want to see it return. I strongly believe that anything would be much better than the current circuits its in.