Since 1951 the NFL has conducted some version of the Pro Bowl. The all-star competition has crossed the country and, particularly in the past decade-plus, gone through several different iterations, including turning the game itself into a series of games.
Now, The Athletic has learned, the Pro Bowl is being eliminated.
On Wednesday, league executives presented to team owners the future of the Pro Bowl, which will no longer have a standalone game — be it tackle or flag football — or games. After surveying players over the years, the NFL will now make the Pro Bowl effectively an individual performance award. Eighty-eight players will receive the Pro Bowl honor with no alternates, corralling a key aspect of the all-star event that had gotten out of whack in recent years.
“All-star games, I think, for all leagues have been fraught for a long time, and they haven’t necessarily represented the very best premium of that sport for those players,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL executive vice president of club business, international and league events, told The Athletic. “I think all leagues have struggled with that. We made the switch four years ago from the ‘tackle’ Pro Bowl to the flag game, and that was more strategic for us. In many ways, we saw a decrease in the replacement players.
“But ultimately, the Pro Bowl, at its core, is about honoring the best of the best in that season, on the field, in real games. And the shift here is about shifting the focus from the game — which is ultimately where people’s attention goes, especially the replacement players tied to it — to the honor.”
In place of the games, Pro Bowlers will be invited to Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February. The process of selecting Pro Bowlers will remain the same. Ballots cast by fans, players and coaches are weighted equally to determine the selections of the 88 players on offense, defense and special teams across both conferences.
For years, league executives have informally surveyed players about how to fix the Pro Bowl. Earlier this summer, NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent Sr. got on a call with more than a dozen star players, including Jalen Hurts, Jalen Ramsey, George Kittle, Dion Dawkins and others. They made clear they wanted to properly honor and celebrate Pro Bowlers, including those who make the Super Bowl, after years of feeling the honor had become something less.
