Altered Pro Bowl format

The NFL has decided to alter the Pro Bowl format a bit. I can't decide if this is a good or a bad thing. It should make parts of the game a little more interesting. Maybe. Would be interesting to see team mates on opposing sides.

The one thing I do wonder about though is, while the game certainly isn't highly competitive, the change of possesion after every quarter could backfire. I could see a team purposely fumbling the ball with about 20 seconds left on the clock and telling the rest of their team mates not to pick it up. That way the other team will pick it up, only to have to give the ball right back.

 

Those changes seem an awful lot like grasping at straws to me.

 

Personally turn it into a fun weekend with skills competition and a bunch of fan interaction stuff and do away with the game. You could end up with teammates playing against each other which I think is just plain stupid. At least before I knew all of the Steeler players would be for the AFC. Goodell making something that is already not good even worse. Not surprised.

 

I will not watch it

 

Leave it in Hawaii and put it back after the Super Bowl. It's not that hard. The draw it had was being after the competitive football was over and the actual Pro-bowl players (not the alternates) were there.

Gave us one more week of seeing the best on the field!

 

I kinda agree with Hawkeye too. Whatever happened to those Punt, Pass, and Kick contests? I used to love watching those thinge where the QB's would have to throw a football at a moving target 40 yards downfield. I'm sure we could come up with a whole slew of them if we wanted to, like the NHL's skills competition. Put a force measuring device on a tackling sled and see who hits the hardest in the NFL. Clock the speed of a QB's pass. Things like that.

 

I think the ONLY reason players want to be named to it is because it will maybe boost their HOF credentials when it's all said and done. I remember one time seeing Brett Favre talking about trying to find a way to NOT have to go it. LOL. My guess ultimately is that Goodell is using this as a test balloon. His TRUE intent is to implement these rules in the REGULAR season. Can YOU prove me wrong??? LOL.

 

I loved watching the qb competition as well. I mean it was ACTUAL competition. The pro bowl game itself is never truly competitive. I also loved watching the obstacle course thing. They should just make them all do the Ninja Warrior course. THAT would be awesome!

 

In the player's contracts, it should state, 'You do not get your Pro-Bowl bonus, if you do not play.'
That would solve the problem, though, unrealistic.

Also, the new format is far beyond a joke.

 

Im pretty sure that most players have bonus incentives built into their contracts regarding making the PB.

 

Yeah but it's pretty minimal compared to what they make in total. I know Terry Bradshaw said he wanted to get to the pro bowl because you would get like $25,000 at the time. But if you're a pro bowler but playing in the Super Bowl do you still get the bonus?

 

I think so.
Im pretty sure just being named to it is enough to trigger the bonus. Like Homestead said above, it should be required to play in the game in order to get the bonus.

 

Although I still wouldn't watch.

 

I like the skills/charity idea. That way it can be harmless and safe without being disgraceful and pathetic and disgusting.

Seriously, if you're going to play the way the Pro Bowl is played these days, just DON'T play. It's gross. The QB competitions when I was a kid were amazing. Bring the top guys from each position and let them compete in another way.

 

Shut it down, nobody wants to participate in it anyway, afraid
of injuries.

 

I'm afraid our former punter would have have been injured even in this kind of event.

 

You could have a game of horse for the kickers, most downed punts inside the 20, you could have an obstacle course for the different levels to compete. I think this would be a lot more entertaining than the current game. Especially if you put mikes on the players so you could hear the banter back and forth between the players. I really like the ADT Skills Challenge the golfers put on in the winter time. It shows a completely different side and allows a lot of fan interaction and is fun to watch guys try something different you wouldn't see at a normal tournament.

 

What if at the pro bowl they just make all the players play Madden as themselves? Then they will actually compete and no one will get hurt. The only thing that can go wrong is Mike Wallace will lose focus but he won't be there so I think I just solved the problem.

 

Its a joke. I havent watched a down of this game in 15 years. Now God wants to chose sides like playground picks?

Name a Pro Bowl team for both AFC&NFC and be done with it. No game.

 

Now it's complete garbage.

 

I'm not really sure what I think about it. The Pro Bowl isn't exactly a great game to begin with, but I always have it on in the background when it's on. Since it isn't great anyway, I'm not sure this is going to make it much worse, but I'll wait to see how it plays out before deciding.

I do like the idea about having a skills competition in place of the Pro Bowl. That would surely draw a lot more viewers.