By ROB MAADDI
The Pro Bowl obtained a serious makeover.
The NFL has eradicated its full-contact all-star recreation and is changing it with weeklong abilities competitions and a flag soccer recreation.
The new occasion can be renamed “The Pro Bowl Games” and can characteristic AFC and NFC gamers showcasing their soccer and non-football abilities in challenges over a number of days.
The 2023 Games can be held in Las Vegas, and the flag soccer recreation at Allegiant Stadium is Sunday, Feb. 5. That is one week earlier than the Super Bowl in Arizona.
“Maybe a different format could bring a little juice, a little more energy,” mentioned New Orleans Saints working again Mark Ingram, a three-time Pro Bowl participant.
Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions firm will assist form programming and promote the occasion’s content material all through the week. Manning, a 14-time Pro Bowl choose throughout his Hall of Fame profession, will present his perspective and also will be part of the teaching workers for flag recreation.
“The Pro Bowl is something that we’ve been looking at for a while, really continuing to evolve,” NFL government Peter O’Reilly advised The Associated Press. “Coming out of final 12 months’s recreation, we actually made the choice primarily based on lots of inner conversations, getting suggestions from GMs and coaches, getting lots of suggestions from gamers. We suppose there’s an actual alternative to do one thing wholly completely different right here and transfer away from the standard sort out soccer recreation. We determined the purpose is to have a good time 88 of the most important stars within the NFL in a very optimistic, enjoyable, but aggressive method.
“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 Pro Bowl debuted in January 1951 in Los Angeles and stayed there for 21 seasons earlier than the sport moved to completely different cities from 1972-80.
Hawaii hosted from 1980-2009, and the sport has had a number of properties within the years since, together with Miami, Phoenix, Orlando and Las Vegas.
“The game was kind of silly, I guess,” Saints two-time Pro Bowl offensive lineman Ryan Ramczyk mentioned. “Guys weren’t out there playing true football. Hopefully, there’ll be a lot of interactions with the fans and guys will get their opportunity to go out there and show some skills. I could see that being a good change.”
Quality of play within the Pro Bowl has usually been criticized. Players, understandably involved about getting harm, deal with it as an exhibition greater than competitors. A flag soccer recreation may improve competitors whereas avoiding potential accidents ensuing from tackling, blocking and hitting.
“You definitely don’t want to get hurt,” Ingram mentioned. “It’s an all-star game, essentially, and you want to put on a good product for the fans and for yourself but at the same time, the season is over for you, essentially. You don’t want to be going into an offseason or into a contract year and getting hurt in a Pro Bowl game.”
The NFL has a serious curiosity in flag soccer. The league partnered with the International Federation of American Football to deliver flag soccer to The World Games in July with an eye fixed on the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“You tap into all the stuff that feels great about Pro Bowl week, the skills, the helmets off, the engagement and then culminate that, keeping the AFC-NFC construct, in something that’s really important, which is flag football and that opportunity to have the best athletes in the NFL out there playing this game that is so much about the future of our sport,” mentioned O’Reilly, the league’s government vice chairman, membership enterprise and league occasions. “It’s been an evolution, but coming out of Las Vegas last year, we really focused on how do we reinvent and celebrate our all-stars even better.”
Manning has at all times been an advocate for the Pro Bowl and supported it when the league thought-about drastic modifications a decade in the past.
“The Pro Bowl has always been a time to step back and celebrate the game of football with teammates, fans and family,” Manning advised the AP. “I’m thankful I can continue to be part of the week as all of us at Omaha Productions work with the NFL to reimagine The Pro Bowl Games. Making Sunday’s game a flag football game is great to see. Youth football has been extremely important to me, and knowing NFL FLAG will help grow this sport, I hope boys and girls can see themselves playing the same game as the best players in the world.”
Fan voting will nonetheless assist decide the AFC and NFC crew rosters. Tom Brady has probably the most invites to the Pro Bowl with 15. Four gamers obtained 14 invitations, together with Manning. The East-West Shrine Bowl can be held at Allegiant Stadium on Thursday, Feb. 2.
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AP Sports Writer Kenneth Maguire in London contributed to this report.
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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter at https://twitter.com/robmaaddi
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More AP NFL protection: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl and https://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Source: www.bostonherald.com