Written by Trent Strafaci
The NFL is one of the most popular sports, today in the US. It is a star- driven league with stars like Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, and Odell Beckham. These stars make tons of money through endorsements and their contracts Which is why playing one meaningless game before the Super Bowl is a waste of time.
The Pro Bowl is a game where 53 of the best players from both the NFC and the AFC are voted in by the fans . The Pro Bowl is usually played in Hawaii but in 2017 the NFL decided they will be moving the game to Orlando, in order to bring in more money. That is not going to work.
During the 2015 season, the NFL brought in a total revenue, of 13 billion dollars, which made it the highest revenue based sport in the United States. The next closest sport was baseball which brought in 9.5 billion dollars, according to the marketwatch.com. Since the NFL brings in so much money, playing one meaningless game , before the Super Bowl is not necessary. The NFL is a money- making machine generating revenue through four pre season games, 16 regular season games, the playoffs and the Super Bowl. One more game doesn’t make a difference.
The next reason why I think the NFL should get rid of the Pro Bowl, is because some of the big names decline invitation because of either injuries or because they’ll be playing in the Super Bowl. Some of the big names like Tom Brady, Matt Ryan, and Ndamukong Suh defensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins won’t be playing. The reason why because they will either be playing in the Super Bowl or they won’t be willing to slow down the preparation for the 2017 season. During the 2016 Pro Bowl Tyler Eifert tight end for the Bengals, broke his ankle. His injury required surgery and he missed the start of the 2016 season. Efiert said that there won’t be any future trips to the Pro Bowl future for him , according to espn.com. Why should there be a game were the players don’t put forth the effort?
Most of the players that play in the Pro Bowl know that the game is joke. Some of the star players said they don’t put forth the same effort like they do in the regular season or even pre season. Lineman don’t even block on field goal attempts, or much less block or push the kicker. Now does that sound like something to watch? No!
The game is no fun to watch any more. It is mostly dominated by offense , which can be entertaining to watch it, but takes away the purity and competitiveness that fans enjoy watching because of the effort players put in the game. The NFL is also trying to do its best to make the game exciting by switching the AFC-NFC team format in 2014 to having two teams drafted by Half Famers Jerry Rice and Michael Irivn. Each captain team takes turns drafting from players from the AFC and the NFC players to fill out the roster.
None of this will work because the players don’t want to get injured and won’t put forth the effort . The NFL is already a 13 billion dollar industry . Getting rid of one meaningless game is okay. The NFL can still honor the players for the accomplishments they had that year but it needs to be done another way.
