The new fantasy football style draft format seems exciting on paper. But once the game begins, how will fans remember which player is on what team? At least with the AFC-NFC format, fans know which conferences the players play for. Plus, this new format might lend itself to some awkward moments. Won't fans find it odd when they see Tim Jennings covering Brandon Marshall or Derrick Johnson tackling Jamaal Charles? This will definitely be the case on several occasions involving teams with multiple Pro Bowl selections, such as the Kansas City Chiefs, with 10 players making the Pro Bowl.
For most professional sports leagues, such as the MLB and NBA, the All-Star Game is one of the highlights of the regular season, drawing high television ratings and allowing fans to vote to see their favorite players play together in one game. However, the opposite seems true for the NFL and the Pro Bowl, with even regular season games usually drawing higher ratings. Of course, a lot of this can be attributed to the popularity of the NFL; the primetime games draw higher ratings than even the most popular television shows. But still, the NFL has no reason to play a game that can't even generate more interest than a regular season game.
Theoretically, the best players in the league should play in the Pro Bowl every year. However, some players such as Tom Brady make up an excuse, such as fatigue, to not attend the game. As a result, many underwhelming players get the title of Pro Bowler because players drop out of playing in the game. In this case, is it really still an honor to be called a Pro Bowler when the five or so players ahead of you dropped out of the game? The NFL needs to consider handing out recognition only to players who deserve it. Cutting the Pro Bowl would prevent undeserving players from calling themselves Pro Bowlers.
For some football fans, a lot of the appeal of football is seeing two grown men pound into each other play after play. However, after a long 16-week regular season, many of the players that make the trip just want to make it through the game without injury. As a result, the tackling in the game is poor and the teams are pretty much able to score at will. Thus, the Pro Bowl is nothing like a football game fans are accustomed to seeing. If the players don't even bother to tackle one another, what is the point of playing football?
Ultimately, a lot of the problems the Pro Bowl faces is due to the fact that the game is played after the season is pretty much over. For players that lost in the playoffs, the sting of losing hasn't worn off yet, resulting in those players choosing not to play in the Pro Bowl. This year, for example, nine of the 10 San Francisco 49ers chosen for the game declined to attend following their emotional playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The end of the season is also a bad time for the game because fans are either focused on the Super Bowl, basketball season or the start of the next football season. Therefore, the Pro Bowl really is just a pointless game that, if removed, would draw very few murmurs and complaints from sports fans alike.
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