You guys! Did you see the ending of the Pro Bowl yesterday?!
Yea, me either.
Turns out, people still don’t care about the Pro Bowl (who knew?!).
I, for one, was stuck in a flu-induced-household-lock-down situation all weekend, and instead, opted to watch the NHL All Star game (and the All Star Challenge the night before, which is still better than dodge ball or crocheting or whatever the NFL decided to do this year).
Admittedly, I am as much of a Caps fan as I am a Ravens fan (add in the O’s, and I thrive on disappointment), so it was truly a coin toss for me in my quarantined state as to which game to watch. In all honesty, I gave both a try, and found myself sucked into the NHL All Star game, while only flipping to the Pro Bowl during commercials. It really wasn’t even close when comparing the excitement: the NFL Pro Bowl simply is what it is. You can change the captains, you can have a ‘draft,’ you can mic up whomever you’d like, but when Drew Brees & his kids steal the entire show with an interview?
It speaks volumes.
Meanwhile, the NHL format – an All Star team for each division competes in a 3 on 3 mini-game within their conference (Metro vs Atlantic, Central vs Pacific) only to have those winners face off for a ‘championship’ game – is much more exciting, and really provides fans with a 3-games-in-1 event. It’s high speed, chock full of offense, tick-tack-toe passing, dangles, trick shots… it’s just something else.
With that format in mind, could the NFL possibly entertain a similar concept moving forward with the Pro Bowl? I know, I know…last week I said that the NFL needed to take the Pro Bowl out back and put it out of its misery, but hear me out! I had an idea that just might save it!
Initially, the format could use some tweaking but perhaps something like this would work:
Theoretically, they could do all similar conference match ups in the first round (AFCN vs AFCE, so on and so forth), but I think pinning an AFC vs NFC provides more early round intrigue, and there’s no guarantee that it wouldn’t remain all AFC vs NFC throughout the tourney.
Because of the typical duration of football games, each round would need shortened, and I like a 7-on-7 game in a modified NCAAF OT format to do the trick: give each team 3 offensive series (alternating, of course) starting at the 35-yard line in an untimed game. This should keep the entire event in the same window of the current Pro Bowl, including the ‘halftime show’ which I’d say they go for prior to the championship game.
What exactly is this better about this than the current format?
EVERYTHING.
In a 7-on-7 format, each team would consist of: QB, (2) WR, RB, TE (2) OL, DL, (2) OLB, ILB, (2) CB, S. Add in a LS, K & P for special teams purposes, as well (not that there will be punting but they’ll hold for the kicker, and the NFL can add a punt contest to their dodge ball gimmick on Saturday).
Forget the defensive side of the ball for a moment since the Pro Bowl, as in any All Star game, is all about offense. Just imagine the weapons in this game: having 8 quarterbacks, 16 wide receivers, 8 tight ends and 8 running backs is EXACTLY the kind of star power the Pro Bowl calls for.
Representation is also a big factor in viewership, and this would surely up those numbers. Riddle me this: how often do we hear ‘snub’ talk from fans, typically from their own team? This would help eliminate that, as your QB, WR, RB, etc. is now only competing to be the top of 4, not the top of 16, and with only 4 NFL teams contributing to the 17 total positions, each team likely ends up with 4-5 players representing on the Pro Bowl team, giving fans more interest in watching (and Nike, more jersey sales).
Also on the ‘rooting interest’ angle, how common is this argument:
“Well if we didn’t play in the toughest division in the NFL…”
There’s some pride to be had in winning this version of the Pro Bowl, with fans having the ‘best division in the NFL’ title up for grabs, and that really plays to both fans of the top teams in that division (best of the best), as well as the cellar dwellers (we’d be better if…).
Then there’s the intrigue angle, that gives fans the awkward, but still awesome, experience of watching rivalries join forces. This is something I witness yearly in the NHL All star game, as Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby join forces (most notably playing on the same line the past 2 seasons, with each player assisting on the other’s goal this past weekend). Can you imagine seeing Marshal Yanda blocking for Ben Roethlisberger as he throws to A.J. Green? Or in some alternate universe where Joe Flacco makes the Pro Bowl, seeing him tossing it to Antonio Brown or Green?
There’s so much more intrigue in this format, and so much more interest to be garnered, that I think the NFL really needs to take a long, hard look at this format for 2019 and beyond.
*I also think it should be held in the city of the Super Bowl, but that’s another argument for another time*
