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There's really no debating that the NFL's Pro Bowl is just flat out awful football. No one is really trying that hard, there's no physicality, and no one really cares who wins. There's no reason to care, for that matter.Finally commissioner Roger Goodell is acknowledging that, and say that something will be done.
Goodell, on the poor quality of play in the Pro Bowl:
"I really didn't think that was the kind of football that we want to be demonstrating for our fans, and you heard it from the fans. The fans were actively booing in the stands. They didn't like what they were seeing. We're either going to have to improve the quality of what we're doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that's the kind of quality game we're going to provide. I know players love to be in Hawaii but we have to start with the quality of what we're doing. If the fans are responding negatively to what we're doing, we better listen. And that was my message."
Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins pretty much summed up the main problem with the Pro Bowl:
"I don't know how you fix it. You're going to give a little effort, but you're not going to get out of control. Some guys are free agents over there. You get hurt in a Pro Bowl and it's going to affect that contract with another team. Who would want to get hurt in a Pro Bowl and not be able to play the next season?"
He makes an extremely valid point. Football is an extremely physical game, and the players have no reason to go out there risking life and limb for a meaningless game.
In a sport like baseball or basketball, the risk of injury is a lot less. An All Star game has the potential to be entertaining, despite less meaning than a normal game. Even in MLB, there's actually something on the line.
In the NFL, it would be insane to put some sort of additional impetus on winning the Pro Bowl. If it suddenly becomes a meaningless game, and players get injured, teams won't be thrilled about it, since they're spending millions on these players in hopes that they'll help them win games.
As far as I'm concerned, they can get rid of it. It means nothing, and it sucks to watch. Give the players a bonus if they're selected, maybe even give them a Hawaiian vacation. But why bother with the charade of a game that no one cares about?
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