{"id":1479,"date":"2016-01-31T21:06:22","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T01:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=1479"},"modified":"2019-06-26T16:51:32","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T20:51:32","slug":"why-does-the-pro-bowl-still-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sullyonsports.com\/?p=1479","title":{"rendered":"Why Does the Pro Bowl Still Exist?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Mark Humphrey\/Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Pro Bowl may be the one exhibition game in professional sports that the players have no desire to participate in.<\/p>\n

This has probably always been the case, but the players’ attitude toward this year’s game seems even more apathetic than in years past.<\/p>\n

In actuality, think about the Pro Bowl as opposed to all other all-star games. \u00a0It’s the only one that takes place after the regular season, after sixteen games and seventeen weeks of the most grueling sport on the planet, one that causes most former players to have\u00a0CTE<\/a>, the disease that slowly but surely destroys the brain in those who sustain multiple concussions and sub-concussive impacts. \u00a0It also makes most players, especially those who made the playoffs, feel worn out and\u00a0in need of a break from the game. \u00a0This was never more evident than\u00a0in the amount of withdrawals from this year’s Pro Bowl.<\/p>\n

This year, 133 players were invited to Hawaii to play in the game. \u00a0By my count, only 94 are actually making the trip, and the 133 invites set a new record for the amount of players who were asked to play. \u00a0The NFL has taken numerous measures to attempt to make the Pro Bowl more appealing to viewers, but it’s kind of hard to appeal to a viewing audience when you can’t even appeal to your own employees.<\/p>\n

Among these measures is having Hall of Famers pick the teams for the game. \u00a0Instead of having an AFC vs. NFC format, the league decided to have legends such as Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders pick the teams. \u00a0This practice began in 2013, after years of Pro Bowl irrelevance. \u00a0Unsurprisingly, the presence of the former players changed approximately nothing in terms of the relevance of the contest.<\/p>\n

What exactly is the problem with the game? \u00a0All you have to do is watch it for five minutes and you’ll see. \u00a0It just isn’t played like a regular game; it isn’t physical in the least and the players who are playing in the game really don’t give it much of an effort. \u00a0If you want one sequence to serve as a microcosm for what the game has become, you need to look no further than this play in the 2013 game, when referee Ed Hochuli set the record straight on how the game was being played:<\/p>\n