The Pro Bowl was once known as an entertaining game to watch, with 44 of the best NFC players going against 44 of the best AFC players. But the Pro Bowl changed from a full-contact game to a flag football game. Why is that?
By the start of 2013, the NFL started to get worried about the injuries occurring during the Pro Bowl. Around this time, players began to make less effort to tackle each other, some people say that it almost seemed as if they were “pillow fighting.”
After the 2021 Pro Bowl was canceled due to COVID-19, the NFL started dropping little hints that there was going to be a big change in the Pro Bowl. After many seasons and players complaining about the injuries happening during the Pro Bowl and how they didn’t like how it was played, the NFL finally decided to make a change to the Pro Bowl.
Towards the end of the 2022 NFL season, they announced that they were going to take all of their players and injuries into consideration, and there was going to be a big change in the Pro Bowl.
At the start of the 2023 season, the NFL announced their changes to the Pro Bowl. The first major change was that the Pro Bowl would no longer be a full-contact event between some of the best players but a flag football game. Although this may be less entertaining to watch for some people, the NFL also announced that there will be more “Pro Bowl Games.”
Although this is a big change for the NFL, the award of being picked to be in the Pro Bowl is still one of the more honorable things a player can have during the season. Being selected to be in the Pro Bowl can show how good a player is, especially if they were picked more than once to be there.
Players are selected in multiple different ways; one way a player can be selected is by the voting system from the fans. Another way a player can be selected is by the head coach individually selecting a player to be a part of the Pro Bowl. One last way a player can make the Pro Bowl is by multiple other players voting for them.
Although a player is voted to be a part of the Pro Bowl, they still have to wait to be selected to play in it. The coach of the NFC, Eli Manning, and the coach of the AFC, Peyton Manning, will pick 44 players each. Eli must pick 44 from the NFC teams, and Peyton must pick 44 from the AFC teams.
If a player is planning to participate in the Pro Bowl, but their team goes to the Super Bowl, then they are forced to forfeit their spot in the Pro Bowl since they cannot risk the chance of injuries before the biggest game of the year. For example, if Brock Purdy, the quarterback for the 49ers, which is the NFC side of the NFL, is selected to play in the Pro Bowl and goes to the Super Bowl, they are forced to forfeit their spot in the Pro Bowl, and a new quarterback is selected to participate.
In all, these are the reasons why the NFL changed the Pro Bowl from a full-contact game amongst the best players in the game into a flag football game, and how players are selected to participate in the Pro Bowl.