This week, Adam Schefter reported that the NFL will be ending the traditional “Pro Bowl” game to end the season. Instead, Pro Bowlers will participate in various competitive skill competitions across a “Pro Bowl Weekend.”
NFL is replacing the Pro Bowl with a multi-day skills competition and flag football game that will be played in Las Vegas the Sunday before the Super Bowl.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 26, 2022
This undoubtedly stems from the NFL’s plummeting turn out to the Pro Bowl. Players continue to opt out of playing in an effort to avoid new and further injuries, which has led to watered-down game. The days of Sean Taylor cleaning up a punter have been over for a while. Last year, we saw Mac Jones, an alternate, sprint to a 65-yard touchdown after being called down in a play akin to touch football. He memorably “hit the griddy” afterward.
The NFL has decided instead of quazi-touch football, or some bastardized version of the sport, they’re going to ditch it entirely for a handful of alternate competitions. But what? What games and competitions will the NFL replace the Pro Bowl with?
Bowl Category: Bowling
What makes more sense than replacing the Pro Bowl with Bowling? Lineup AFC and NFC players side by side, fill up 22 lanes and have a bowling competition. And if after 10 frames, it’s all tied up 11-11? Let the Pro Bowl kickers be the tiebreaker.
There’s no better way to decide who’s better in the Pro Bowl than to have the players bowl like pros.
The term “bowl” has become commonplace in football because of the shape of big stadiums. The Rose Bowl was the site of the first collegiate post-season game in 1923, and games of importance began using the term shortly thereafter. But in a modern sense?
New stadiums are increasingly domes. Fighting off worsening weather patterns and heat means playing indoors. But are we going to begin calling big games “domes” or “boxes?” Who wants to play in the Pro Dome, anyways?
Stick with “bowl,” and make it literal. Let the NFC and AFC compete in a Pro Bowling competition. Let them deck themselves out in bowling uniforms that are loud enough to compare with a Pro Bowl uniform. At this rate, Nike can sell a new one each season just like their Pro Bowl uniforms. We will be buying Pro Bowl-themed bowling shoes before we know it!
Non-Bowl Category: Knock-Out
In a semi-athletic, but family-friendly, affair… have the AFC and NFC alternate in a long line and shoot baskets. Knock-out is a low athletic risk game that is fun and competitive. Further, it’s one with very few rules to understand.
What would be interesting to see here is how competitive the players got within their divisions. Obviously, to start the long line of 44 players, the AFC and NFC players would alternate back and forth. Thus, the first knockouts would all be players from one conference knocking out the other. But what about when two NFC or AFC players inevitably end up in back-to-back spots in line? Do linemen fall on the sword for their quarterback? Do they take the moment to finally seize the limelight?
Kind of Bowl Category: Madden Challenge
This may be best served as a Quarterbacks challenge, but it might be more fun to see if a non-quarterback offensive player or defensive player could compete. Madden already sponsors a number of NFL-related events, so the league would be working with a well-known partner.
Further, it would bring the audience the closest thing to football. Upload the actual Pro Bowl rosters, play the game on big screens and let the people at home follow the gameplay.
Over the course of the weekend, the Pro Bowl players -quarterbacks or otherwise- will widdle themselves down to an eventual champion. But that’s not where the competition ends: the winner has to play the best Madden gamer that EA Sports can find. From there, the Pro Bowl winner and Madden chosen winner can compete to for some respective charities while the world gets to see how much being in the NFL can help or hurt your game.
This both offers a real-world connection between madden fans and the players and a fun viewing experience for fans at home. Fans get to watch (virtual) football, Pro Bowlers compete in (virtual) football, bu no one gets hurt because it’s virtual (football).
I know the NFL is dealing with some aging quarterbacks, and a guy in his 40s might not have the same knack for video games as someone younger might. But so many of the next generation of players grew up playing with their favorite players on Madden that this feels like a logical next step. Players care about their Madden rating, do we not think they’d care about winning a Madden title?
Further, if video games really do favor the young, this is our opportunity to get to know the youth. As fans, we get insight into a young Pro Bowler behind the facemask in a way that is near impossible in the course of a (real) football game.
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