Big changes in the Pro Bowl formula!
The NFL is replacing the Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game, The Associated Press has learned.
The new event will replace the full-contact showcase started in 1951. It will be renamed "The Pro Bowl Games" and will feature AFC and NFC players showcasing their football and non-football skills in challenges over several days. The 2023 Games will be held in Las Vegas, and the flag football game at Allegiant Stadium is Feb. 5. -ESPN
Peyton Manning will be one of the coaches for the flag football game, and his Omaha Productions company, which produces the ManningCast Monday Night Football broadcast, will be involved.
The Pro Bowl has been widely derided in recent years as being effectively flag football anyway, so the league has apparently decided to make that change official.
"The Pro Bowl is something that we've been looking at for a while, really continuing to evolve," NFL executive Peter O'Reilly told The Associated Press on Monday. "Coming out of last year's game, we really made the decision based on a lot of internal conversations, getting feedback from GMs and coaches, getting a lot of feedback from players. We think there's a real opportunity to do something wholly different here and move away from the traditional tackle football game. We decided the goal is to celebrate 88 of the biggest stars in the NFL in a really positive, fun, yet competitive way.
"The feedback very directly from guys who had been in the Pro Bowl recently was to keep the construct of the week, make sure you're having that multi-day element. It was overwhelmingly positive both from players as well as from clubs."
"The feedback very directly from guys who had been in the Pro Bowl recently was to keep the construct of the week, make sure you're having that multi-day element. It was overwhelmingly positive both from players as well as from clubs."
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