League floats idea of replacing Pro Bowl with Senior Bowl

Could the NFL decide to scrap the Pro Bowl for the Senior Bowl? (Credit: AP Photo) Last year’s Pro Bowl was nothing but an embarrassment for the NFL. Players looked disinterested and showed an extreme lack of effort on the field. Obviously the players do not want to risk injuring themselves in a meaningless game. The Pro Bowl became such a joke that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said NFL all-stars needed to start playing hard and he was let down by the game. Tonight, the 2013 NFL Pro Bowl rosters will be announced. Along with the announcement comes discussion about whether or not the game is actually necessary and how to solve the problems from last year. Eric Grubman, the NFL’s executive vice president of business ventures spoke on the Pro Bowl and the future of the game today: “It’s tough to view it as ‘working’ now. What works about it is there’s recognition of great players, the players enjoy it, the fans enjoy it, and it gives people an opportunity to focus on football for a week when there wouldn’t be anything. . . . “What’s not working is the players, for their own reasons, have not put on a true NFL quality game. We understand their logic, but there’s no getting around it — it’s not an NFL game.” One option the league’s floating is to make it a college all-star game, perhaps even moving the Senior Bowl into that time slot, to create a celebration of the future as well as the present. Moving the Senior Bowl to the Pro Bowl slot would be an amazing idea. If the NFL was smart they would move the Senior Bowl to the Pro Bowl weekend and still bring the NFL’s all-stars to Hawaii. The all-stars could participate in fun events such as a celebrity game or skills competition. Then, the college seniors could play a game that would involve players who were fighting to improve their draft stock. The NFL could also find a way to incorporate the NFL all-stars and college seniors during the Senior Bowl weekend. Hopefully the NFL finds a way to make this happen. The post League floats idea of replacing Pro Bowl with Senior Bowl appeared first on DOWN & DISTANCE.