The ratings dropped even more this year, so hopefully they either kill it off or make some changes.
I agree switching to a schoolyard pick instead of NFC vs AFC was a huge mistake.
Yeah, I used to like those competitions. Where receivers would have balls thrown at them rapidly by 4 jugs machines from every angle, quarterbacks would try to hit small targets with balls, running backs would go through obstacle courses, etc. Not sure why they stopped doing that, it was much better than the actual pro bowl game.
Agreed. I think it would be awesome to see just what these athletes are capable of.
The first year they did it, the game was actually watchable.
Heres my idea how to save the pro bowl. What is the one thing pro football players brag about throughout their entire careers?
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Their school. Hence, their Conference. Hell I even hear 60 year old pros still trash talking about their colleges.
Heres who I would do, tearing a page out of the NHL’s playbook:
Have a 7 on 7 mini-tournament (QB + RB + 2 WR w 3 linemen v 3 DL + 2 LB + 2 CB, each team gets a kicker and punter) with 6 teams consisting for players from:
Pool 1:
Big 10
SEC
ACC
Pool 2:
Pac 12
Big 12
All other conferences + lower than Div 1 schools
Each team plays the other in their Pool in a sudden death “NFL overtime rules” game, waiving the “if the first team gets the ball and scores a TD they win” rule, guaranteeing everyone gets a shot on the field.
The two teams from each Pool with the Best W-L record (and tiebreakers would be easy to implement) played the other in a 15 minute championship game, with normal NFL sudden death overtime rules.
This way, theres less time on the field and less likelihood of injury, and theres pride on the line; I know no SEC player alive wants to hear how the ACC whooped his ass in the Pro Bowl.
Lets say it goes like this:
POOL 1
SEC-Eli Manning, QB
BIG 10- Russell Wilson, QB
ACC- Jameis Winston, QB
POOL 2
PAC 12- Carson Palmer, QB
OTHER- Derek Carr, QB
BIG 12- ever uhhhh----I guess you’d have to go with Sam Bradford?
ANYWAY, sample results:
POOL 1
ACC 6, BIG EAST 0 (10:00)
SEC 6, BIG EAST 3 (8:30)
ACC 7, SEC 0 (5:00)
ACC ADVANCES, 2 W, 0 L—23 minutes football elapsed
POOL 2
BIG 12 7, OTHER 0 (4:25)
PAC 12 7, OTHER 0 (8:15)
PAC 12 3, BIG 12 0 (5:00)
PAC 12 ADVANCES, 2-0-----17 minutes football elapsed
CHAMPIONSHIP GAME:
PAC 12 13, ACC 10-------15 minutes football elapses, 56 total minutes of football, fitting well into the 3 hour “TV window”-----yet most time one player would have been infield is 30 minutes!
Thank you, Ill be here all week as Carson Palmer, Richard Sherman and Clay Matthews accept the Pro Bowl Trophy for their Pac 12 brethren!
It’s actually behind MLB and NBA all star games. OTOH, it was the highest rated sports event of the weekend.
Maybe we can get a return of the Bert Bell Bowl Benefit Bowl and see if anyone can break Roger Brown’s record of five appearances.
I don’t think it’s so much “because SB people are going to watch” as “now they have something to show in the two weeks between the conference championships and the Super Bowl.” Yes, they have tried reducing the break to one week; IMO, all that did was get rid of most of the second-week hype that helped build up the Super Bowl.
I think what was considered the “main” problem of playing it after the Super Bowl was, people were expecting players from the Super Bowl teams to be in it, but almost invariably, the winning players had to be in the city’s parade, and the losing players were too let down to want to be in it. The move makes it clear that no Super Bowl players will be in it. Of course, quite a few stars aren’t in it anyway…
The NFL kept that College All Star vs NFL champions game alive until 1976 even though the games were lopsided, coaches hated it, rookies were fearful and NFL players didn’t want to get shown up. I suspect they will do a lot to keep the pro bowl going.
http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/12/09/college-all-star-football-classic-jackie-slater-joe-greene