The National Football League will hold its annual fan-voted, All Star game on Jan. 30 in Honolulu, Hawaii. I won’t be watching it and I won’t be the only one. Here are four reasons why.
The Pro Bowl receives terrible ratings. The Associated Press reported that 12.3 million people watched the Pro Bowl last year, which was a 40 percent increase from 2009. However, that number pales in comparison to the 106 million who tuned in to Super Bowl 2010.
The last time anyone jumped out of his chair while watching the Pro Bowl was in 2007, when the late Sean Taylor flattened Buffalo Bills punter Brian Moorman on a fake punt play. Four years later, it is still the only highlight that true football fans remember. This year’s Pro Bowl is being played the same day the Miami Heat play. I’ll bet the Heat game will be the most viewed sporting event of that weekend.
The Pro Bowl puts players’ careers on the line. Pro Bowl players only participate in the event for the fun of it. However, as with any other football game, they run the risk of injury. Many fans would rather not see their franchise’s best player go down with a career ending injury suffered in a meaningless game.
Players get no time to practice. The players selected to play in the Pro Bowl only have, at the most, a week to learn a playbook and to practice. No matter how talented a team is it does not mean anything if they don’t practice. With lack of practice, seriousness and coaching why is such a big deal made over this game?
The best players are not always selected. The Pro Bowl selection is run on a fan-based voting system. It is technically a popularity contest where fan favorites on a certain team receive votes because of who they are instead of how well they perform.
The Pro Bowl is insignificant and defies what a real All-star game should be. The NFL needs to call a permanent delay of game on the Pro Bowl.
