Rest in Peace, Pro Bowl

It’s ironic that the NFL announced the official end of the Pro Bowl competition Wednesday, the same day they announced a new focus on player safety rules. It was the guise of player safety that killed the Pro Bowl — even though the bigger reason was a lack of player interest. The last season in which the league played an actual Pro Bowl game was 2022, and they’ve been playing flag football and dodgeball and other silly “competitions” since then.

The league announced Wednesday that there will no longer be a Pro Bowl game or any Pro Bowl “competitions.” They will, however, continue to select Pro Bowl players, theoretically preserving the honor of calling someone a Pro Bowler. Now they don’t have to worry about all the best players dropping out and suddenly the 10^th-best player at a position gets to call himself a Pro Bowler. Forget about 10^th-best… Shedeur Sanders was a Pro Bowler last year. Seriously, if you didn’t know any better, you’d check out Sanders’ Wikipedia page and see clearly: Pro Bowl (2025). Uh-huh.

It wasn’t safety risks that killed the Pro Bowl. As is usually the case, it was money. Before NFL salaries exploded, playing in the Pro Bowl was a nice payday for players. Now, they can make that money doing a five-minute promo for DraftKings.

Between the 1979 and 2015 seasons, the Pro Bowl was played in Hawaii all but twice. Football snobs can pooh-pooh the game all they want, but it still did better ratings than most nationally televised regular-season baseball games. It wasn’t the crazy, video-game highlights you might get from an NBA All-Star Game, but it was a fun gathering of greats.

I had the privilege of working the 2003 Pro Bowl, following the 2002 season, for NFL.com. I’ll be honest, I remember less about the game itself than I do touring a nuclear submarine with NFL players, hiking Diamond Head or hanging at the beach with my wife (that was toward the end of the glory days, when the NFL would pick up the tab to fly employees’ spouses to Hawaii).

But here’s the thing: It was an actual game, with actual Pro Bowl players. I had to look up the highlights to recall what happened, but if you were watching football back in 2002, you’ll appreciate the names…

• The AFC won, 45-20, and the MVP was Miami Dolphins running back Ricky Williams, who had 11 carries for 56 yards, three receptions for 18 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns.

• It’s surprising Williams didn’t rush for more yards, because the entire starting offensive line that he was running behind was made up of future Hall of Famers: Jonathan Ogden, Willie Roaf, Alan Faneca, Will Shields and Kevin Mawae.  

• Who says defense doesn’t do anything in these games? The AFC recorded six interceptions, including a pick-six from New England Patriots cornerback Ty Law. The Dolphins’ Sam Madison had two picks. The other three interceptions were by some recognizable names: Rod Woodson, Patrick Surtain and Aaron Glenn.

• This was back when the Pro Bowl was played the week after the Super Bowl. So even though the Oakland Raiders had just been destroyed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII, NFL MVP Rich Gannon made the trip to Hawaii, where he threw a pair of TD passes, one to Pro Football Hall of Famer Marvin Harrison and the other to Buffalo Bills running back Travis Henry.

• Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal for the AFC. I remember talking fantasy football with Vinatieri earlier in the week. NFL.com was just starting to push fantasy back then, and Vinatieri starred in a great TV commercial in which he drafted all kickers.

Hall of Famers everywhere

Looking back, I have a growing appreciation for the Pro Bowl and specifically for me being at that particular Pro Bowl. This game featured an astounding 30 future Hall of Famers:

Starters:
Brett Favre
Jerry Rice
Marvin Harrison
Terrell Owens
Tony Gonzalez
Jonathan Ogden
Willie Roaf
Alan Faneca
Will Shields
Kevin Mawae
Walter Jones
Jason Taylor
Richard Seymour
Michael Strahan
Warren Sapp
Junior Seau
Zach Thomas
Derrick Brooks
Brian Urlacher
Champ Bailey
Rod Woodson
John Lynch
Adam Vinatieri

Reserves:
Peyton Manning
Marshall Faulk
LaDainian Tomlinson
Randy Moss
Bryant Young
Ty Law
Brian Dawkins

Even if they did still play the Pro Bowl, it’s hard to imagine there could ever be a game with so many immortals on the field at the same time.

Finally, as long as we’re reminiscing, here’s my wife and I at a Pro Bowl reception hosted by then-commissioner Paul Tagliabue, in his Hawaii best…