The quality of the play in the Pro Bowl has been an issue for the NFL at various points in recent years and it has come up again this week after a lackluster showing in Hawaii last Sunday.
At his annual press conference from the Super Bowl, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about his reaction to the game. The commissioner did not have a positive take on what he saw.
“I was disappointed in what I saw on Sunday,” Goodell said. “I raised this issue three or four years ago. We worked with a number of players to make changes to the game. They had a positive impact, at least in the short term but I didn’t see that this past week. …It’s not the kind of game we want to continue to have in its current format. ... If it’s not real competition that we can be proud of, we have to do something different.”
There have been a variety of ideas tossed around about other ways to approach the Pro Bowl, including ditching the game entirely or having some sort of a skills competition. Goodell wouldn’t speculate on what path the league might take, but it’s become clear over the years that stripping away the physical nature of the games that matter leaves very little of value on the field in the Pro Bowl.