I read with great interest Jared Donnelly’s article on the Pro Bowl because it had also been on my mind.  I agree that the changes he suggests would make a lot of sense, but I would take it one step further and eliminate the game altogether.    The game is not just irrelevant and boring, but it is detrimental to the NFL.  Yes, the NFL like every other professional league needs a showcase like the Pro Bowl for its marquee players, but I do not believe an all star game is the proper venue.

Football is much more a team sport than baseball or basketball.  Each player on the field affects the play of the other players.  While there is opportunity for great individual performances, these performances could not happen without the other teammates.  This is in contrast to the NBA or baseball all star games in which one player can light up the scoreboard without help from his teammates.  In the NFL, all the players need to be in synchrony, or the offense or defense just won’t work.  This is particularly true of the offensive line.  By its very nature, an offensive line has to work as one unit, requiring the individuals who make up that unit to not only communicate properly, but also have a feel for where their linemate will be in any given moment.  That can’t happen with a bunch of all stars that have never played together.  If the offensive line cannot properly function, then nothing on the offense will work, and since one of the primary functions of the offensive line is to protect the quarterback, the quarterback could get hurt.  Recognizing this, the NFL has placed limits on the type of defenses which can be played including disallowing blitzes.  There’s even a new penalty called illegal defense made up just for this game.  Unfortunately, not everyone gets the message.  Terrell Suggs dislocated Drew Brees’ left (non-throwing) elbow when he sacked him in this year’s game.  I don’t know if Suggs was blitzing at the time, but in simply doing what got him to the Pro Bowl (sacking quarterbacks), he injured an all star in an exhibition game.  Then there’s Sean Taylor, who totally destroyed punter Brian Moorman on a fake punt.  Luckily for Moorman, he was not hurt, but what was Taylor, who already has a reputation as a dirty player, thinking?  I’m reminded of a line from Rocky where Apollo Creed’s manager says to Apollo “Let’s get out of here, Bum.  He doesn’t know it’s a damn show.  He thinks it’s a damn fight!”  I don’t blame Taylor or Suggs for what they did.  They are NFL players and are successful because of their aggression.  They can’t just turn it off in a meaningless game.  I blame the NFL for having a travesty like this in the first place.  In the entire history of the Pro Bowl, there have not been any serious injuries, though in an NFL sanction beach flag football game just prior to the 1999 Pro Bowl, Patriot’s Pro Bowl rookie running back, Robert Edwards, severely injured his knee, effectively ending his career.

The best players consider the Pro Bowl a joke anyway.  They will take the salary bonus and a free trip to Hawaii, but like Marvin Harrison and Chris Samuels this year, simply decide not to play, albeit with the excuse of a minor injury.  I’m not sure its even an honor to go to the Pro Bowl anymore.  With so many players choosing not to go for various reasons, usually with the excuse of a minor injury, players who weren’t even elected are going.  This year Zach Thomas was elected at middle linebacker for the AFC, but he decided not to go, then his backup Ray Lewis begged out, so his teammate Bart Scott could go to his first Pro Bowl.  The same thing happened at quarterback, where Philip Rivers decided not to go, and then Tom Brady decided he’d rather play golf at Pebble Beach, so Vince Young became the first Rookie quarterback to go.

There are monetary rewards for playing in the Pro Bowl.  The game check itself is usually insignificant for these megaplayers, but they usually have incentives in their contracts for earning trips to the Pro Bowl and these can be very significant.  In addition, when it comes time for free agency or to renegotiate a contract, players tout their Pro Bowl appearances which may be falsely elevated.  The Pro Bowl could also be used to a team’s advantage.  An imaginative general manager or coach, say Bill Belichick, who has a player in the Pro Bowl, say Tom Brady, could ask that player to skip the game.  The player would still receive the roster bonus, but would not get the game check which I’m sure Brady would deem insignificant.  The Pro Bowl quarterback position would then go to another player who would then get his roster bonus for making it to the Pro Bowl even though he wasn’t elected.  If that player’s team is tight against the salary cap, this roster bonus could handicap his team in the free agent market.  So by simply not playing in the Pro Bowl, Brady could potentially weaken an opponent.   It’s actually a little more complicated than that (incentive bonus’ are divided into “likely to be earned” and “not likely to be earned” which can get very complicated), but you get  the point.  This scenario may seem rather far fetched, but in a league where the “poison pill” has been used to weaken an opponent, it could happen.  I would not put this past a coach like Belichick who has thrown a game in order to avoid a hot Steelers team in the playoffs, or allegedly hosed down his own field in order to slow down the Colts’ offense.

The NFL is the greatest sports league on Earth, but they taint their product with such a sham of a game.  They should eliminate the Pro Bowl and make the Super Bowl the fitting finale to the season.