On Monday the National Football League announced that they would no longer be playing the Pro Bowl. Now even though the game drew very good television ratings for some reason it wasn’t much of an actual football game.
Now the NFL is still going to hold an event and it will be called The Pro Bowl Games. These games will feature players from the AFC and the NFC showcasing their football and non-football skills in a variety of competitive events over several days.
The Pro Bowl Games will be held in Las Vegas and one of the events we know is going to take place is a flag football game. That game will be played on Sunday February 5th a week before the Super Bowl at Allegiant Stadium.
Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company will help shape programming and promote the event’s content throughout the week. Manning, a 14-time Pro Bowl pick during his Hall of Fame career, will provide his perspective and will also be a part of the coaching staff for flag game.
The Pro Bowl debuted in January 1951 in Los Angeles and stayed there for 21 seasons before the game moved to different cities from 1972-80. Hawaii hosted from 1980-2009, and the game has had several homes in the years since, including Miami, Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas.
Quality of play in the Pro Bowl has often been criticized. Players, understandably concerned about getting hurt, treat it as an exhibition more than competition. A flag football game could increase competition while avoiding potential injuries resulting from tackling, blocking and hitting.
The NFL has a major interest in flag football. The league partnered with the International Federation of American Football to bring flag football to The World Games in July with an eye on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
As we look at the NFL one of the words, we always hear the league mention is parity. According to Merriam-Webster the definition of parity is the quality or state of being equal or equivalent and the NFL has managed to be pretty close to that through three weeks.
Now if you’re wondering what I mean by parity, well there are just two teams that are still unbeaten and one team that hasn’t managed to get a win this season.
The Philadelphia Eagles and the Miami Dolphins are the two teams that are still perfect at 3-0 while the Las Vegas Raiders are the lone team looking for their first win of the season.
Now Miami will try to get off to a 4-0 start tomorrow as they are on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals. Now the Dolphins might have to face the Bengals without their starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as he’s deal with back and ankle injuries. It appears as though Tagovailoa will be a game time decision for tomorrow’s game.
The Eagles are at home, and they’ll host the 2-1 Jacksonville Jaquars who are coming off an upset win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3. Jacksonville has been a bit of a surprise through three weeks, so it might be easy for Philadelphia to get to 4-0.
As for the Raiders. Las Vegas will be at home as the 2-1 Denver Broncos come for a visit. Even though Denver is 2-1 they haven’t played as well as most people expected them to. The Broncos are coming off of an 11-10 win over the San Francisco 49ers, so it’s possible that the Raiders will pick up their first win of the season this Sunday.
So, what do you think happens this week. Will the Dolphins and the Eagles get to 4-0? And will the Raiders finally get that elusive first win?
I’d also be interested to know what you think of the NFL getting rid of the Pro Bowl and what you think of the replacement idea they have.
Don’t forget that you can find me on Twitter @Burketime.
I never cared for the Pro Bowl and this new format looks even worse. I will not be watching it.
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