Pro Bowl Solutions

Waning interest in the NFL’s Pro Bowl has Commissioner Roger Goodell admitting that a change in format is needed to save the game, which has been played annually since 1951.  The depleted interest in the game is not just from the fans.  The players also don’t seem to care.  The apathy is prevalent in both the players who ask to be excused due to injuries, conflicts or important dog walking responsibilities and those who actually sacrifice themselves by making the journey with their families to Hawaii.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers rightly criticized his teammates for going through the motions in this year’s charade of a competitive game.   So in the interests of helping the NFL’s Commissioner find a solution, I propose the following options:

Schoolyard selection of teams: 

Let the fans and media select the All-Stars and two captains.  Then let the two captains choose the two sides from the pool of All-Stars.  This would create a greater bond on the teams and sense of responsibility by the players to perform well for the captain that selected them.

I thought of this format in 2009 when I was in a position to implement it as a member of the WPS Board of Governors.  It was delayed a year and finally used for the 2010 WPS All-Star Game after the NHL used it for their 2011 All-Star Game.  While I thought I was the first to suggest the idea in pro sports, I later found that the Russian KHL had previously used it along with a creative skills competition.

I love the NHL’s solution to the schoolyard embarrassment of being the last player chosen – they award the last player with a new car and $20,000 donation to the charity of the player’s choice…which I suppose makes the second to last player chosen the most disappointed.  It worked for the NHL, so it should work for the NFL, too…or not.

Replace with return to Chicago College Charities All-Star Game format:

From 1934 to 1976 selected college seniors played an annual preseason game (except in 1974) against the defending NFL champions.  The college all-stars got the better of the defending NFL champions in the formats early years.  This highlight video of the 1946 game shows University of Wisconsin star Elroy Hirsch using his “Crazy Legs” to score on a 68-yard run and an Otto Graham bomb to shut out the Los Angeles Rams 16-0! 

As pro football gained credibility, however, more college stars continued their football careers into the pros and the NFL teams became better and the NFL champs began beating the college seniors.  All time, the NFL champs won 31, lost nine and tied two.  The 1963 Green Bay Packers were the last NFL team to lose to the college all-stars, 20-17, but this incredible video shows Bart Starr leading the Packers to a 42-20 victory over future Packers quarterback John Hadl and the college all-stars in the previous year’s game at Soldier Field.  The format was scrubbed after the disastrous 1976 game when downpours of rain and unruly fans stopped the game in the third quarter…forever.

This format has the benefit of encouraging players to give a full effort to preserve pride, but the negative aspect of risking injuries continues for both sides.  Perhaps as a postseason game instead of the previous preseason format, this would be acceptable…or not.

 

Married vs. Single:

The gist of improving the game is to improve the participants desire to give a full effort.  They currently do not take enough pride in the conference they represent, so perhaps they need to represent something that is more personal.  Instead of dividing the teams by conference, players could be assigned by personal traits such as married vs. single….or age.  You could have the over 30 players compete against the under 30s…well the NFL is a young man’s game, so maybe > or < 27.

Basing teams on players’ colleges could increase their connection and desire.  SEC, Big 12, ACC, C-USA, Sun Belt and NAIA players vs. Big Ten, Big East, Mountain West, WAC and Pac 10, Independents. You would like to think that playing for their own pride would be enough, but apparently it’s not.  Perhaps playing for school pride would help…or not.

 

Shirts vs. skins:

Not sure this would make them play any harder, but it would add a Lingerie League element to the game and may improve ratings for female demos.  I don’t know that there would be enough exposed skin to paint numerals on players’ backs underneath their pads, but it may be worth a try...or not.

 

Flag football:

The current Pro Bowl is almost played like two-hand touch, so flag football isn’t really that big a leap and it should reduce the risk of injuries making this format plausible…or not.

 

Rules experimentation:

The pro Bowl could be used an opportunity to test new rules without the risk of negatively impacting a meaningful game.  This could be the time to mix some of the CFL rules such as three downs, 15 yards for a first down, a 110 yard long field and 25 yard deep end zone.

Perhaps try playing with the scoring system: one point for every ten yards of a field goal’s distance, double points for a drop kick field goal or more points for a defensive touchdown.

They could go all MTV Rock N’ Jock and add targets on the field or between the uprights for bonus scoring.  If a player steps on a target while he has the ball, he gets an extra point or the team gains an additional ten yards – kind of like Scrabble’s triple word score…or not.

 

NFL vs. the World:

This format saved the Major League Soccer All-Star game.  Instead of lackluster, defenseless East vs. West matchups, MLS now matches its best players against a different world soccer power every year.  After winning five straight, the MLS All-Stars have now lost three straight including the last two to Manchester United.  The All-Stars see it as a chance to prove themselves against one of the world’s best teams and the international soccer team plays hard to avoid the embarrassment of losing to players from America’s top league.

In 1998, MLS divided its own All-Stars into domestic and foreign players and staged the game as USA vs. the World.  The Americans took the game more seriously and dominated the arguably more talented World side 6-1.

The problem with this format for the NFL of course is that the sport isn’t played at a high level anywhere else in the world and the League doesn’t have enough foreign players to even fill half a team of non-stars.  Perhaps the NFL All-Stars could play the Australian Rules Football All-Stars in one half each of American and Australian football…or not.

 

Added value:

Bud Selig tried improving the original All-Star game after his roundly booed decision to end the 2002 game as a tie.  The new policy declared that future All-Star winners would receive home field advantage in the World Series.  This forced managers to care as they don’t want their brethren to blame them for losing the home field advantage.  Most of the players seemed to care as well.  While baseball’s All-Star game is probably better off than it was before this added value rule was adopted, it’s now kind of in a grey area between exhibition and meaningful, which is awkward for all concerned.

The challenge for the NFL adopting this policy is that the Super Bowl is at a neutral site.  Perhaps the added value could be something else like the winning side only has to play two preseason games the following year.  Or maybe instead, it’s a penalty for the losing side.  Losing conference starts all inter-conference games the following year down by three points…or not.

 

Play it indoors:

Fewer players, less chance for injuries and when only 18,000 people show up, it will be a sold out game…or not.

 

Small market sites:

Move the game out of Hawaii and into small markets throughout the United States.  Honolulu residents have gotten spoiled by the annual walk through the park and aren’t selling out Aloha Stadium where it’s been held 32 of the last 33 years.

There are dozens of large football stadiums in small cities throughout the United States that would love to host this game.  Moving it around would add a freshness to the event every year.  Think of the excitement the game would generate in Austin, Texas, Lexington, Kentucky or Little Rock, Arkansas – all cities with stadiums larger than the Aloha Bowl.  And the players would simply love spending a week with their families amidst the small town charm and hospitality of these overlooked burgs…or not.

Well there you go.  Plenty of great options for Commissioner Goodell to choose from…or not.