(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
By Kyle Showalter
Every year in the dead of winter football fans everywhere gather to watch the best players in the NFL battle it out. Fans fly from all over the country to take in the glory. At home they invite their friends over and plan their entire weekends around it knowing that can’t miss football lies ahead. It is the most anticipated Sunday of the year.
Wait… People don’t care about the Pro Bowl?
We’ll revisit that.
The Pro Bowl has come and gone and left everyone asking the same question we have every year: why isn’t this a bigger deal? The draw of the 44 best players in each conference squaring off should be the hottest ticket not only in football, but all of American sports. Instead, the Pro Bowl is thought of as more of a show than a football game.
How did the NFL get this seemingly slam-dunk event so wrong? To start, the rules don’t reflect what you would see in a real NFL game. The play clock is 35 seconds instead of 40. Defenses have to run out of the 4-3 at all times, can’t blitz, and have to line their deep safety up within the hash marks. Offenses have to have at least 1 running back and tight end on the field at all times, operate on a 35 second play clock instead of 40, and are not allowed to block below the waist.
To be fair to the NFL, these rules make sense. The league wants its stars to shine with the entire world watching. Letting safeties sit over the top of star receivers and taking the deep ball away isn’t what drives ratings, rather it is the opposite. Fans tuning in want to see the Tyreek Hill’s of the world chasing down 60 yard bombs. Limiting teams to a 4 man rush helps keep quarterbacks upright, which the league has to be nervous about every play in these games. The last thing that the NFL wants is to have a star quarterback go down in a game that, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t mean anything. Having at least one tight end and running back on the field at all times assures not only that every skill position has the opportunity to show out in the game, but also prevents match up problems that would arise against the forced 4-3 defense that, again, every team must use.
While the NFL can explain itself out of some of the oddities of the Pro Bowl’s rules, it cannot be excused for all the blame of this event being a dud year after year. To begin, the voting system is flawed. As it is currently constructed, the Pro Bowl roster is decided by the players, coaches, and fans voting for who they’d like to see in the game. Each group’s vote is worth one-third of the decision of who gets to represent. This turns the selection process into more of a popularity contest than a recognition of who the best players at each position were this year.
There is no finer example of this than the exclusion of Colts LB Darius Leonard from this year’s Pro Bowl. The rookie out of South Carolina State helped turn one of the NFL’s worst defenses last year into a top 10 defense this year. He contributed 163 total tackles, 7 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 2 interceptions for the Colts, but his impact was felt far beyond the numbers. Leonard was a force all over the field. He energized the defense with his ability to make tackles from sideline to sideline while also handling pass rushing duties. Colts DC Matt Eberflus raved over how he was able to take over and lead the defense at just 23 years old. All of this led to him being an AP First Team All-Pro selection.
Leonard is far from the only snub this year. Jason Kelce was PFF’s highest rated center in the NFL this season. snubbed. Christian McCaffrey rushed for 1098 yards and caught 107 balls, joining the very exclusive 1000-rushing yard, 100-catch club that includes only Matt Forte and Hall-of-Famer LaDanian Tomlinson. snubbed. David Bakhtiari excelled at protecting Aaron Rogers’ blindside all season, well enough to earn him the #2 ranking amongst LT for PFF. snubbed.
On top of the wrong players being selected, a great deal of the players that are selected simply don’t want to play in the game. The blame for this doesn’t fall squarely on the shoulders of the NFL, rather on the sport itself. Football by nature is an incredibly violent game. This is the draw for many fans, as watching the greatest athletes in the world test their wills against each other in a brutally physical-yet-skilled game that is as beautiful as it is gruesome. The most memorable play in the history of the Pro Bowl is undoubtedly when the late Sean Taylor nearly decapitated punter Brain Moorman.
This kind of physical play is what we as fans drool over, but it’s a deterrent for many players who would rather not risk injuring themselves for a game that does not count. Players that will be playing in the Super Bowl cannot participate due to the close proximity of the two games, so many of the league’s best players that should be there simply can’t. Some players outright decline the invite to play in the game, and the players that do elect to participate often play at half speed. Take this play by Eagles RT Lane Johnson as an example.
The Pro Bowl does have some redeeming qualities, however. We get to see the top players in the world all in one place. Even though they don’t play full speed every play, that is a huge draw both on and off the field. The Skills Showdown is wildly entertaining every year. Dodge ball is always a hit (Andrew Luck and Akiem Hicks had the best highlight of the entire showdown), and the precision passing and gridiron gauntlet events were both hits on social media.
We also get to see players do things on the field that we normally wouldn’t get to see them do. Saints RB Alvin Kamara got to try his hand as a pass rusher and nearly got to Deshaun Watson, forcing a bad pass and celebrating wildly with Saquon Barkley. Bucs WR Mike Evans got to try covering world class receivers and ended up coming away with an interception in what ended up becoming the most ridiculous play of the game. Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey caught a touchdown pass on a slant route and emphatically dunked the ball through the goalposts in the waning minutes of the game.
Maybe it’s moments like these that make the Pro bowl worth watching. And before you say “No, the Pro Bowl isn’t worth watching.” or “Nobody watches the Pro Bowl anyways.”, think again. The Pro Bowl averaged 8 million viewers between ESPN and ABC, according to the ESPN PR Twitter page. That number has been going down each of the last three years, yes, but it is important to acknowledge that this number is still double what the Stanley Cup Finals average. Do with that information what you wish.
The point of all of this is that the Pro Bowl is always going to be itself. And it is always going to be played for the simple reason that people watch it. Period. If you tune into the Pro Bowl hoping to watch a great football game, you will always be disappointed. It will never have the intensity and physicality of a real football game. However, if you watch the Pro Bowl for the spectacle that it is, you will be entertained. Tune in to watch your favorite athletes throw dodge balls at each other. Watch world-class athletes play out of position and celebrate wildly. Watch these players come out of their shells and have fun playing a kids game. If you do this, the Pro Bowl isn’t half bad.
True Article, Competitive Football it is not! Entertainment it is. As long as you go into it with that mindset, I don’t think you will be disappointed in what you see.