NFL: Why The League Finally Needs To Pull The Plug On The Pro Bowl Game

How many sports fans out there chose to watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards, “To Catch a Predator” or “A Bronx Tale” instead of watching the entirety of the Pro Bowl this year?

The Pro Bowl has been a tremendous bore for fans for some time now. 

Rules like no blitzing, no five-receiver sets and no man coverage (except inside the opponent’s five yard line) basically assure a game played at half speed. 

Altered rules or not, it is no secret players typically go through the motions for the Pro Bowl.  The main goal for the overwhelming majority of players is not winning or losing; it's getting on the plane home injury free. 

Certainly, it is tough to encourage players to give it everything they’ve got in the NFL’s all star game, since playing in the Pro Bowl now means your respective team missed the Super Bowl. 

Therefore, there really is not a heck of a lot to play for, outside of the entertainment for the fans. 

Is anyone really trying to break a leg or get a concussion just so they can have one more clip on Sportscenter or get a few thousand more hits on YouTube?

And that is a major problem with the game; there is no consolation for losing and no real prize for winning. 

Although, one can argue the same point about the all-star games in any of the other major sports like basketball, baseball and hockey, it is tough to deny these games are played pretty close to full speed. 

The risk of a severe injury in a football game is likely higher than any of the other sports mentioned, which is the most logical explanation of where the problem lies. 

So then comes the age old question: Why have a Pro Bowl game at all?

Fans would be more content just to see a list of players who received the accolade, as is the case with the All-Pro team, then to watch a game with less intensity than a backyard football game between family members during Thanksgiving. 

It would not be unheard of to think that fans would rather watch players attend an award ceremony or banquet of some sort, rather than a half-hearted game. 

Some analysts and players will always swear the Pro Bowl game has meaning, but then why do a large portion of players avoid it like a plague?

Remember when David Garrard made the Pro Bowl last year?  How many quarterbacks backed out for him to make the squad—four? Five?

In 2009, Garrard had 3,597 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and lost eight fumbles.  He had three rushing touchdowns as well. 

These numbers are run of the mill at best. By no stretch of the imagination did Garrard have a Pro Bowl caliber season in 2009. 

That is not to single one player out, as this has become more and more common in recent years. 

Did anyone really think Miles Austin deserved to be on the NFC squad this season? He was the fifth or sixth option among NFC wide receivers.

The list of examples can go on and on, but the point is that eliminating the playing of an actual game will keep undeserving players from receiving what is supposed to be an honor in the sport. 

Seeing players sneak in the back door regularly is a big knock to the game’s credibility, and the fact that the game is now played before the Super Bowl assures this will happen in some capacity. 

The NFL should really do the fans a favor and pull the plug on the current Pro Bowl system. The game inexplicably seems to have less and less meaning from one year to the next.