
An election year is the perfect time to point out that the people of the United States can’t agree about anything. We can’t agree on whether or not people should have human rights, we can’t agree on what constitutes conception or murder and we let ‘The King Of Queens’ run for 9 seasons and keep shows like ‘Parks And Recreation’ on the cancelation bubble. We’re emotionally and socially f**ked, but the one thing I think we can all agree on is that the NFL Pro Bowl is the most worthless thing we do annually and nobody would be sad if they kicked it in the ribs and tossed it in the garbage.
It looks like garbage day has finally arrived.
Here’s what ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said to Mike and Mike this morning on ‘Mike and Mike in the Morning’:
“The league is moving toward suspending the Pro Bowl, possibly this year. As one person told me last night, it is DOA, Dead on Arrival. At the same time, the league, I believe, will instruct teams to continue to put Pro Bowl incentives in contracts; if players have Pro Bowl incentives, to go ahead and pay them so they don’t have a problem with the union.
“Right now, the Pro Bowl is on the calendar for the week before the Super Bowl, but there’s no game site that is listed, if you look at it closely. The reason why is, after a lot of discussion, I think this commissioner Roger Goodell and other league people, and even some of the players, are basically saying, as Aaron Rodgers criticized last year’s performance, that there’s no reason to play in the Pro Bowl.”
Everyone’s so okay with this that even the commenters at Shutdown Corner have taken a break from demanding the firing of everyone with blogging privileges to post “yeah the pro bowl sucks get rid of it”.
And Aaron Rodgers is totally right — there is no reason to play in the Pro Bowl, unless you want to add a tiny amount of additional money to your Football Guy moneybin. If they’re going to keep doing it, they need to fun it up a little and make it like an episode of ‘GUTS’. Give everybody flags and nerf balls and maybe kayaks and see who can score the most points before Mo blows the whistle. At least then you’d have the aging ironic viewership, and SOMEBODY would be watching.


Screw the game, it’s a farce and not fun to watch. Know what would be awesome? Tequila and bumper cars. And face tattoos. And whores!
If the Pro Bowl had something related to football, but was stripped of most of the context of the actual game, like the NBA dunk contest or the MLB home run derby, and they put that on, with maybe a few more skill contests (or like, trick-shot field goal HORSE or something) and play 7-on-7 instead of the full 11-man squads, that might be kinda better.
Only problem is most of the exciting stuff in football is usually predicated on impact, so there really isn’t a slam dunk/home run equivalent that wouldn’t result in someone getting concussed.
Or screw it, make the whole Pro Bowl just a skills contest. Rejuvinate the blue chalk industry and bring back the quarterback competition!
You better keep your phone close. I have a feeling the NFL will be calling you any minute for more input.
It’ll just be “Give everyone ATVs, play football like normal, only on ATVs”
Better yet, have the All Pro’s take on Antonio Cromartie’s kids.
It’s sorta strange how the NHL and MLB are WAY better at this than the NFL, their entire all-star weekend’s are somewhat entertaining to watch and if I recall correctly the NFL at one point dabbled in skills competitions as well.
I agree with everything you said, except I hate that the MLB All-Star game determines home field for the Series
The only prize that should be awarded for a MLB all-star game victory is two hugs from Jim Thome instead of one.
That is waaaaaaaay better than home field advantage
NFL Pro Bowl = Brandon’s blogs.
GTFO with that incorrect assessment.
Why not just have an awards ceremony? If you can have the NFL Draft in PRIME TIME (copyright: ESPN), you can have an end of year celebration with video highlights, speeches, and interviews. Are we not the country that watches the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys?
I thought they had that this past season, and fewer people gave even less shits for the awards ceremony than the pro bowl.
If only Brandon’s blogs would go the way of the NFL Pro Bowl.
I concur. All free entertainment that I’m not forced to consume needs to get exploded into the sun.
Exactly!