Killing the Pro Bowl Was the Only Move the NFL Could Make

The NFL finally stopped ignoring the two obvious problems it had with the Pro Bowl after the seismic changes it made on Wednesday.

Instead of fixing the issue of players declining to play—and in a competitive manner—the NFL decided to just give up and get rid of the Pro Bowl, an exhibition game that was designed to put the league’s best players on the field at the same time.

Clearly, they’ve run out of ideas for how to make the game more competitive after years of tweaking it, including turning it into a flag football matchup and having a series of mini games that resembled something out of Mario Party.

Perhaps the NFL could have found other creative ways for getting the best of the best to participate in actual tackle football, but the days of players running at full speed (like the late Sean Taylor at Aloha Stadium in 2007) for an extra game that had no meaning in the standings just wasn’t going to happen. The season is too long and injuries happen too frequently.

And you could argue that maybe the NFL didn’t exactly put full effort into fixing its lack of competition problem because the Pro Bowl ratings were always strong until recently. Only two million viewers watched the Pro Bowl this year, a sizable drop from the 4.7 million viewers the year prior. So giving the Pro Bowl game the ax could be viewed as a rash decision, but it was too late to do anything to fix it. The damage was done.

The NFL getting rid of the Pro Bowl was the right and only decision. However, it may have missed the mark on the second obvious problem that it may or may not be aware of. Does being a Pro Bowler carry any weight anymore? That’s a question I asked coaches and league officials in February after many were up in arms about Shedeur Sanders being named a Pro Bowler despite an uneven rookie season.

According to the Athletic, the league still plans on keeping the Pro Bowl honor and having 88 selections to highlight the best players on offense, defense and special teams across both conferences. But here’s the interesting part: the fans still have a say. The process of selecting Pro Bowlers remains the same with fans, coaches and players all getting 33.3% of the vote.

“The NFL screwed up when they gave the fans a vote,” an NFC coach texted back in February. “The most popular guy on TikTok goes to the Pro Bowl now. When it was coaching and players voting, it meant a lot more.”

Personally, I have mixed feelings about the fans continuing to have a vote. On one hand, this coach is right about many fans just voting for their favorite players on their favorite teams. On the other hand, there are many knowledgeable fans out there who actually pay close attention to all 32 teams, especially those in fantasy football leagues that are a lot more competitive than the Pro Bowl was the past decade.

I’ll be real, I want to dislike the fan vote, but the players don’t exactly take the voting seriously either. I’ve been in locker rooms when it’s time for them to list the top 100 players in the league. Let’s just say many of those top 100 sheets end up on the ground. Also, who really has time to sit there and list 88 to 100 players when most players and coaches are only focused on their team and that week’s opponent. I won’t be biased here and vouch for reporters to have a say when it comes to naming Pro Bowlers, not when Bill Belichick was kept out of the Hall of Fame this year and Terrell Owens had to wait to get into Canton because he was mean to a few reporters.

But I did find one NFC coach who actually liked that the fans still have input with the Pro Bowl.

“Smart to move on from the game,” he texted. “I like fans having a vote. All-Pro will always mean more anyway. But the fans matter, and that’s why the sport is as popular as it is.”

While there’s disagreement with the voting process, many seem to be on the same page that it was the right decision to give the Pro Bowl game the boot.

“It’s a long season, players are beat up,” a different NFC coach said. “It’s hard on them as players [to play in another game].”

An AFC coach simply said “great idea” to get rid of the Pro Bowl game.

Again, there are too many games in a season that may only be getting longer if the owners and players agree on an 18-game schedule in the near future. And just yesterday there was more alarming evidence that suggests it’s common for professional football players to suffer from CTE. Based on the record low ratings, fans have lost interest in watching football players pretend to play football, and adding the physicality back into the exhibition game just was a nonstarter when it comes to player safety.

The Pro Bowl had to go. Still, I’m not convinced that being named a Pro Bowler will mean anything based on Wednesday’s changes. But at least the league finally made a real effort to restore prestige to the Pro Bowl.

“Being honored as one of the best in the league at your position is something the players will always appreciate and welcome, in my opinion,” our second NFC coach said.

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