The Pro Bowl is an anomaly in professional sports. It's one of the highest achievements and a noble honor to be asked to play in the Pro Bowl, and hence is a game of All Stars. The problem is that generally nobody cares about it. No player wants to risk injury to himself or others, and there's very little incentive to actually play hard to win the game (usually the players are paid ~$25,000 for losing and ~$50,000 each to the winning team.) It also boasts an extremely modest viewership, both on TV and in the stadium. It's basically a vacation in Hawaii every year and the players don't have to try hard. This makes it boring.
So they changed it up. First, the uniforms were upgraded from a cheesy red, white and blue that looked like it was copy-and-pasted from an Olympic team in the 80s to the sleek, modern green and orange above. I don't personally love the chosen colors, but it's an upgrade. Before, the players were asked to play and if their team was in the AFC they played for the AFC, and if they were from the NFC then they played for the NFC. Boring.
It sounded kind of ridiculous at first, but the brilliant idea was to turn it into a backyard-captain-picks style of team selection. Many comparisons were made to a fantasy football draft. Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders were brought in to build the teams, and they and their first three picks chose the rest of the team, alternating. Grown men were visibly butt-hurt about being "picked last", and emotions were already heating up. The intense rivalry between Sanders and Rice became a rallying cry for the teams, chosen by them, to play for bragging rights that went beyond a corporate logo. It was brilliant, and the game was a lot of fun to watch. Players from the same team were hitting each other just as hard, if not harder, than everyone else, and it was a low-scoring, action-filled football game. I'm very excited about the future of the Pro Bowl and hope to see legends such as Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Tony Gonzales and Richard Sherman come back as honorary alumni to pick a team to play for them one day.
So they changed it up. First, the uniforms were upgraded from a cheesy red, white and blue that looked like it was copy-and-pasted from an Olympic team in the 80s to the sleek, modern green and orange above. I don't personally love the chosen colors, but it's an upgrade. Before, the players were asked to play and if their team was in the AFC they played for the AFC, and if they were from the NFC then they played for the NFC. Boring.
It sounded kind of ridiculous at first, but the brilliant idea was to turn it into a backyard-captain-picks style of team selection. Many comparisons were made to a fantasy football draft. Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders were brought in to build the teams, and they and their first three picks chose the rest of the team, alternating. Grown men were visibly butt-hurt about being "picked last", and emotions were already heating up. The intense rivalry between Sanders and Rice became a rallying cry for the teams, chosen by them, to play for bragging rights that went beyond a corporate logo. It was brilliant, and the game was a lot of fun to watch. Players from the same team were hitting each other just as hard, if not harder, than everyone else, and it was a low-scoring, action-filled football game. I'm very excited about the future of the Pro Bowl and hope to see legends such as Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Tony Gonzales and Richard Sherman come back as honorary alumni to pick a team to play for them one day.
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