Time to kill off the Pro Bowl, which serves no real purpose
The entire time watching the “wackiness” of the Pro Bowl, with Richard Sherman running end-arounds and Odell Beckham Jr. playing safety, I am thinking — other than, what the heck am I going to write on this game? — is, I wonder what Ben McAdoo thinks seeing his star receiver goofing around at another position?
The good news: McAdoo likely had no idea it was happening.
The Pro Bowl is one giant cringe fest … if you watch, that is. Most people don’t have a reason to. While the NHL had some real drama and intrigue in its exhibition all-star game earlier in the day, the Pro Bowl really was a snooze fest.
Just kill the thing off already. Players (and a coach!) were dropping out of the game before it started like they hear Jim Jones would be hosting the luau, which told you everything they thought it was worth. So why would we watch/attend/care about it?
Make a skills competition. Have a flag-football game. Peg moving targets with greased-up footballs. Something. Anything different.
There is nothing more insulting than watching a cheap, inferior product. The no-tackling version of football is just that, and yes I saw Bobby Wagner actually tackling Sherman. It came after Sherman took the ball on offense, reversed field twice and was pushed out for the world’s longest 22-yard loss. Even the best moments of the silliness were not that great.
What we’ll remember will be the plays like the throw Derek Carr uncorked, and a handful more like that. So that’s what we think the game’s future is — not as a game but as some kind of skills display. The league has great players to put on a stage that’s worth watching, but the game loses all its integrity when players stop caring about making it look like football.
There are only so many fake punts, offensive players playing defense, defensive players playing defense, Jon Gruden interviewing his old employees on the sideline and tight TV shots of Andy Reid in shorts that one can handle in a single broadcast. Even Michael Bennett doing his celebration dance after a touchdown didn’t move us. The Pro Bowl had us seeking out a healthy dose of lithium.
Give us an idea. What should the Pro Bowl be? Does there even need to be a Pro Bowl? We attended the game last year and watched it in its entirety this year. We’re bored. We didn’t like what we watched. We need something new. And we need your help.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm