Pro Bowl Weekend

A few years ago i came up with an idea to make the NFL Pro Bowl a better draw for the league.  My plan was to move the game from the week after the Super Bowl to the week before.  That way the week before the big game would be filled and there would still be interest in seeing the best in the game play.  The NFL then adopted my method and nothing has changed.  So now I have a new plan.  Scrap the game entirely, but let the weekend go on.

The problem with the Pro Bowl is that it is the dullest game of the year.  QB's are throwing to guys that they never throw to.  Most of the players are running plays that they never ran.  They have one week to prepare for the game, but it doesn't count for anything so the intensity of the preparation is lacking.  Defenses aren't allowed to blitz and there is an unwritten rule to not hit anyone to hard.  So, we are treated to lots of missed plays, blown assignments and unexciting football.  Why bother?  The players are honored for being selected but unless it is their first time they really don't want to play another game.  My solution, don't play the game anymore.

The Pro Bowl should turn into All-Pro Weekend.  The NFL treats the the best in the league to 3 or 4 days in Hawaii and treats us to fun competitions that aren't a football game.  I love things like the QB challenge, lineman challenges, and anything along those lines.  Put microphones on all the players and have them compete against each other in skill competitions.  The banter between players and commentators if fun, the skills shown off are impressive and the events as a whole are entertaining.  Sounds to me like a win/win situation.

The Pro Bowl, as it stands, sucks.  The league knows it sucks, the players know it sucks, and the fans know it sucks.  I feel the league should let it go by the wayside and reward the players with a trip to Hawaii and us to entertaining competition.  Let the players personalities and skills show without boring us to tears with a bad football game.  I'm going to go see a movie this weekend instead of watching the Pro Bowl.  It might be the same with the competitions, but I would at least DVR those.