Put it out of its misery. Club the Pro Bowl over the head, take it out in the parking lot and just be done with it.
The recently announced changes to America’s most watched pro All-Star game is like putting a band aid on a broken bone -- it doesn’t amount to much. I actually like the newly introduced “draft” aspect of the Pro Bowl with Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders, among others, picking the players for each team. Although, it doesn’t matter if you get the ghost of Jim Thorpe to pick the best NFL players, the on-field product is lackluster at best and a waste of time at worst.
Ironically, how can you do away with a glorified scrimmage that drew more than 12 million viewers in 2013? Easy, you can’t. As the saying goes, the business of the business is business. As long as consumers watch and show up to what amounts to an elaborate dog and pony show, the NFL will continue to rake in the dough and tweak and tinker into oblivion.
I’d like to tell you I have the master plan. That I’ve done all of the research analysis accompanied by a blueprint that can invigorate the players and keep the game safe and fun. All I know is what I like.
For me, the actual Pro Bowl game is jimmies on a vanilla cone. I really want to see who can throw it the farthest, do the most bench-press reps, punt, kick, etc. Most of all, I want to see who is the NFL’s fastest man. Every year, without concession.
I have a great appreciation for things I cannot do. I want to be awed, blown away by feats I’ve never seen or am unlikely to see elsewhere. Longtime NFL’s fastest man, Darrell Green, ran a 4.2 40-yard dash at 40 years old at Redskins camp in May 2000. Yeah, you read that right. LeSean McCoy and Michael Vick teed it up this offseason with Shady getting smoked by the elder statesman in a 40-yard dash. How about having that on a national stage? Win.
With a league that supersedes nearly everything in America for appointment viewing, why would the NFL not entertain an opportunity to properly fix a glaring issue? For a multi-billion dollar company, one of their most consistent attractions is taking on water.
There’s a chance the league’s overhaul could rejuvenate the Pro Bowl or this could be the first step in the game disappearing quicker than a Green in the 40.
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