Pro Bowl 2012: What Can the NFL Do to Bring Back the Dying Event?

In recent years, the Pro Bowl has become the most useless event in the NFL.  Yes, even more useless than the fourth game of the preseason where only third- and fourth-string players participate.  At least those games have players playing for roster spots.  They're not like the proven pros who don't care, which leads to guys like Alex Mack, the Cleveland Browns center, running the ball in for a touchdown.  

Personally, I've always been a fan of the Pro Bowl.  Before they moved it to a week before the Super Bowl, it marked the official end of the football season.  It was a bittersweet moment, watching all my favorite players playing the last game before the dreaded offseason.  

But, the fun started to disappear.  The NFL got rid of the skills competition after the 2007 Pro Bowl.  They no longer had the fun events that made the Pro Bowl somewhat enjoyable.  To me, about 14 at the time, watching my idols run around having fun was awesome.  

The Pro Bowl is a dying event, but the NFL seems to be unaware of the fact and continues with the same dull thing every year.  If the NFL doesn't want to end the event already, they should certainly make it more entertaining.  

1. Move It Back to After the Super Bowl

I don't know why, but commissioner Roger Goodell moved the Pro Bowl to the dead period between the conference championship and Super Bowl.  I've always hated the move.

To me, I always had withdrawals from anxiety after the Super Bowl.  One of the biggest events of the year just came and went in about four hours.  It's not enough; I want more football.  Knowing that I always have the Pro Bowl the next week is reassuring.  

Another reason I think the NFL should move the Pro Bowl back to after the Super Bowl is because I want to see more of the best players.  The two Super Bowl teams, in theory, are the two best teams of the season.  You'd think they would have the best players, right?  

Oh yeah, that's right, NFL—have a game consisting of the best players, but excluding two teams worth of great athletes.  That just doesn't seem right to me.

But sure, there could be arguments against this.  The Super Bowl is the Super Bowl and that should be the final game of the season.  

2. Bring Back the Skills Competition

The skills competition was the best thing about the Pro Bowl.  In other sports, players flock to their televisions to watch competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout in the NBA, and the Home Run Derby in MLB.  The NFL used to have the same, but for some unexplained reason, they discontinued it after 2007.

Events tested the best quarterbacks' accuracy and strength, the best receivers' hands and the best kickers' leg power.  Other events determined who could do the most bench presses and who was the NFL's fastest man.  

Personally, I'd love to see Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson and Calvin Johnson compete against each other to see who has the best hands, to see if Chris Johnson was faster than Jamaal Charles and Jacoby Ford, and to see if Drew Brees was as accurate as Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers.  

Not only should they bring those events back, they should add more to them.  I don't know if they still have this, but college prospects would participate in challenges on ESPN.  You can see an example in the video as New York's Ramses Barden did this when he was coming out of Cal Poly.  

I'd like to see just how fit some of the NFL's players are.  Wouldn't you?

3. Flag Football

Flag football?  Yes, flag football.

Another component of the past competitions the NFL had were flag football games, usually consisting of former legends.  Just the other day, I watched a Steve Young-led team face off against a Dan Marino-led team on NFL Network.  Here are a few names of the players who played: Michael Irvin, Steve Atwater, Marcus Allen, Mike Singletary.  

Who wouldn't want to see what the legends still have in them?  Being only 18 years of age, I'd definitely pay to see Jerry Rice catch a ball from Joe Montana, or "Prime Time" Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin go one-on-one.  Even if it was in a flag football game, I'd love to see what the legends who shaped the NFL can still do.

The flag football doesn't need to stop at the legends either.  About a week before the start of the 2010 season, NBC aired a celebrity game to promote Madden NFL 11.  The NBA has a celebrity game every year; why not the NFL?  I wouldn't mind watching Shaquille O'Neal do his best Jimmy Graham impression and catch a touchdown.  What about comedian Kevin Hart running in the slot as if he were Wes Welker?

This is where the NFL can get creative with the people they invite.  And hey, more celebrities and legends means more viewers.  

4. Get the Mascots Involved

Who doesn't love mascots?  These goofy little fellas are always running during the real games.  You know they're just dying to go and tackle someone after seeing, up close, two professional teams go at it for 60 minutes.  

What about a five-on-five game for the mascots?  Say, two halves, 15 minutes per half—the best of the AFC mascots versus the best of the NFC's in thirty minutes of full-throttle fun and outrageousness.  

I've even come up with a list of mascots who can play.  

AFC: Miles of the Denver Broncos, Jaxson de Ville of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Pat Patriot of the New England Patriots, Toro of the Houston Texans, Steely McBeam of the Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC: Sourdough Sam of the San Francisco 49ers, Captain Fear of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rampage of the St. Louis Rams, Staley the Bear of the Chicago Bears, Freddie Falcon of the Atlanta Falcons

5. Rookies vs. Sophomores

Think about this for a second: What kind of players have something to prove?  The young ones.

Like the NBA, let's put the rookies against the second-year players and see which draft class was the better.  Not only does this provide a nice little rivalry between the two draft classes, it creates a rivalry in the individual draft class.  

Imagine A.J. Green and Julio Jones on the same team.  We'll see ho can get open, who can beat the cornerback and who can catch the touchdown pass that makes the crowd go "Ohh!"

Now think about a low-profile draft pick against a player like Patrick Peterson—say, Chris Culliver, third-round pick out of South Carolina, on one side and Peterson on the other.  Don't you think Culliver wants to prove that he's just as good as Peterson?  That he should have been picked in the first?  That he should of been the one getting all the attention and that Peterson shouldn't have been fifth overall?

Peterson, on the other hand, wants to show why he was picked so high.  He wants to show everyone why he truly was the best corner in the league.  

An exhibition game of the game's best young athletes trying to prove that they deserve to be in the NFL would be one heck of a game.  

6. Changes to the Pro Bowl Game

There are a couple ways the NFL could go about this.  The first idea I had was just to cancel the game entirely.  But that's the easy way out.  This is the NFL we're talking about.  

What kind of football player would take the easy way out?

The second idea I had was something by the lines of incentives for the winning team.  The NFL has more than enough money that they can splurge on the winning team of the Pro Bowl.  How about something like fully paid dinner at some five-star hotel for the players' families?  I haven't played a meaningful game of football in a long time, but if I was offered a fully paid dinner, you won't even have to wait a minute for me to get my pads and cleats on.  

Something fun like this would motivate players to actually try during the game.  Wives, girlfriends and kids would be screaming for players to do their best.  

Before I could finish the article, I had to go run some errands.  As I turned on the radio to 95.7 The Game, they began to talk about the Pro Bowl as well.  One of the hosts had suggested eliminating the punting unit and forcing teams to go for it on fourth down, no matter the distance.  While unconventional, it would be interesting to see what kind of plays teams can come up with when facing 4th-and-17.