Read the debate intro and the opposing argument from Loyal Homer.
Professional football is not conducive to an All-Star game. Every football game at the professional level takes an incredible toll on a player’s body. Studies reveal professional football players run much higher risks of serious injury and shorter life expectancies, especially offensive linemen. Considering that the NFL regular season is 16 games long, it is impressive that any players stay healthy all season long. Add to that the potential of four preseason games and up to four more postseason games, and it is down right miraculous that players survive. Yet the NFL extends its schedule by one more game, and at the end of the season no less. This year’s Pro Bowl is scheduled for the week before the Super Bowl, the most inopportune time for an injury. So why in the world would a player voluntarily subject themselves to the arbitrary opportunity for injury in a game that holds no influence on the outcome of the season? Because it matters.
The Pro Bowl is not just another game, it is so much more. It is both an achievement and a status. Anyone who remotely follows the NFL is familiar with the term “Pro Bowler.” Participating in the Pro Bowl sets a player apart from the rest of the league. The words define a sportsman as one of the elite players in the game. They are selected by their coaches, peers, and fans to represent the best their team and conference has to offer. It is an honor to simply be invited to play in the Pro Bowl. Since almost every team gets to send at least one player to the Pro Bowl, and it is an opportunity for that team to showcase what they are best at doing (in Oakland it is punting). Not all great players will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame, but each season the Pro Bowl allows players to earn a chance for recognition as the best in the game.
Critics will point to the fact that it is difficult to assemble a football team from a pool of players who come from different teams with dissimilar playbooks, but this flaw also provides for one of the most alluring and unique aspects of the Pro Bowl, real life fantasy football. Only in the Pro Bowl will fans get to see an offense where Peyton Manning can throw passes to Randy Moss. It is the only place where fans can watch what happens when Tom Brady faces a defense with an unbelievable pass rush, with players like Julius Peppers and Jared Allen, and shutdown coverage, from players like Charles Woodson and Adrian Wilson. In fact the Pro Bowl boasts so much talent that we refer to the exclusion of elite players (Tony Gonzalez, London Fletcher, Cedric Benson, and Thomas Jones) as snubs. No one expects these All-Star teams to have instant chemistry or camaraderie, yet they still impress us and dazzle us with jaw dropping performances because they play with pride.
The Pro Bowl is football’s one last hoorah. The game brings a sense of finality and closure. Aside from this year’s quirky scheduling, the Pro Bowl offers Americans one last quality game before the sport hibernates, while March Madness takes over and the boys of summer do their thing. The game provides one final time to celebrate the season’s accomplishment in grand style. While it may not do so with the same pageantry as the Super Bowl, it has built a niche in the sport as an occasion for celebration nonetheless.
It is hard for me to even imagine an argument against the Pro Bowl. What would the NFL replace it with? A punt, pass, and kick contest? Or better yet, maybe we could have a rousing plaque presentation and award season superlatives. The Pro Bowl has history, for as long as the league has had an AFC and an NFC it has had a Pro Bowl. It does not make sense to stop now.
I am a football fan so i will vote for NFl