Last season, Ravens special teams coach Jerry Rosburg was partially responsible for sending WR/KR Jacoby Jones to the Pro Bowl. Fortunately for Jones, he was unable to attend the game as he and the Ravens were playing in the Super Bowl.
Now, if Jones has any chance of ever playing in the NFL’s version of an All-Star game, it’ll have to solely be for his exploits as a receiver. The NFL announced the Pro Bowl will eliminate kickoffs, instead opting to place the ball at the 25 yard line to begin drives.
The move was something Rosburg wasn’t too pleased with.
“Why do we even play?” Rosburg responded when I asked him about his thoughts on the rule change. “They should just have a banquet instead.”
Rosburg’s thoughts echo those of much of the fan base. The league has struggled to find a way to make the game interesting and get the best efforts from players as they try to avoid injuring themselves in what essentially is a scrimmage.
Personally, I’d rather see the skills competition come back, which would generate a lot of buzz around the event much like the Home Run Derby has done for Major League Baseball’s All-Star game.
Hopefully Rosburg isn’t fined for questioning a decision made by the league even though there are likely people within the league office that agree. It wasn’t my intention to bait Rosburg into a question that could potentially get him into trouble, but it was also nice to hear an honest and uncut answer from a member of an NFL coaching staff about the league essentially devaluing his contributions to the game.
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