NFL to replace AFC-NFC matchup in Pro Bowl with draft; Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders captains

The Pro Bowl will see a number of changes next year including the elimination of AFC-NFC matchups in favor of a draft. (Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)

A number of changes are coming to next year's NFL Pro-Bowl.

According to tweets Wednesday afternoon from ESPNs Adam Schefter, the traditional AFC-NFC matchup will be eliminated and in its place will be a "fantasy-like" draft led by Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders, the latter of whom will have his own reality show launch on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network in 2014.

Among the other changes to the game will be the elimination of kickoffs, and rosters will consist of 43 players per squad. The game will be played Jan. 26 in Honolulu.

The make-up of rosters for an NFL all-star exhibition has changed once before. The early NFL All-Star Games of 1939-42 featured an all-star team made up of all the best players of the league competing against the league champions of that year. After the game was halted during World War II, the modern concept of the Pro Bowl with two all-star teams squaring off debuted in 1951.

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