No Pro Bowl? 'No Problem,' Says NFL Star
The NFL's annual celebration of its greatest players, the Pro Bowl, has just become the latest event to be canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The NFL announced on Wednesday that this season’s Pro Bowl, which had been scheduled for January 31, 2021, will not be played.
This is the least of the Dallas Cowboys' worries, of course, as this roster's most immediate Pro Bowl-related concern is how many Cowboys who've been voted in in the past are now too hurt to play anyway.
But a response from a perennial top vote-getter for the event?
"No problem,'' said Houston Texans icon J.J. Watt. "Sounds good.''
Watt isn't trying to be sarcastic here; the Pro Bowl has in recent years declined in popularity in terms of the stars willing to take part in a meaningless exhibition that can be fun ... but that can also be an injury risk.
Speaking of injuries? Yes, it'd be nice if Cowboys Pro Bowl types like Dak Prescott, Tyron Smith and Gerald McCoy were eligible, but they're done for the year. (As is the retired Travis Frederick, of course.) And how about Pro Bowl honorees like Leighton Vander Esch and Sean Lee? They are trying to come off IR.
Meanwhile, the league isn’t officially calling it this move a "cancelation.'' Rather, they are billing it as a “reimagining” of the Pro Bowl, which sounds like an idea that is more about public relations than it is about football.
But in any event, the league has decreed that Pro Bowl rosters will still be voted upon by fans, players and coaches, and that there will be "virtual'' activities orchestrated in a way that recognizes the game’s biggest stars - including, Houston Texans fans surely hope, guys like J.J. Watt, a five-time Pro Bowler and former defensive MVP of the game.
READ MORE: Cardinals at Cowboys: Key Defender Ruled Out
The 2022 Pro Bowl, the league announced, it on and will be played in Las Vegas. But changing the event this year to a non-event, and transforming some of the participation into injury-free "reimagining'' of actual football?
No problem. Sounds good.
