BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The NFL finally found something no one seems to like: the Pro Bowl.
On Monday, they announced the game as we know it is gone and will be replaced with a Flag football game next January in Las Vegas.
Players don’t like the Pro Bowl game because of the risk of injury, and so the level of competitive play has dropped significantly over the years, boring fans and drawing criticism from media.
To make the week more appealing in recent years, the NFL has added skill competitions and other events during the week. Now those will be expanded further.
92.3 The Fan caught up with three of the Browns perennial Pro Bowlers – Joel Bitonio, Myles Garrett and Amari Cooper – in the locker room to get their takes on the changes announced Monday.
Four-time Pro Bowl receiver Amari Cooper
Your take on NFL changing Pro Bowl game to Flag football?
“I think it’s actually good, man. A lot of guys don’t go to the Pro Bowl because they’re banged up, you know what I mean? They’re like, it’s not really worth playing in the game, I just want to rest my body. But you know with Flag football, it’s just more going. You know you’re not going to get hit.
Guys will be pumped up about that and I think fans will be pumped up about it too because you got the Pro Bowl, you know those guys aren’t playing for real. The refs are blowing the whistle and nobody wants to watch it to be honest. The only [ones] that really want to watch are the fans that are there, the fans that are there for the festivities and everything. They just go to the game for something fun but I think the Flag, it'll about a new aspect of the game and then you got the best players in the NFL playing Flag. I think it’ll be something that’s cool to be honest with you.”
The NFL said they reached out to players for feedback.
Were you among them?
“They probably did. I probably didn’t open the e-mail. No, I didn’t even know.”
Do you like the addition of skill competitions during Pro Bowl week?
“Yeah, I saw they did some stuff last year, like some skill competitions and stuff like that. It’s cool. It’s all about the fans. It looked like a lot of fun to be honest with you.”
The changes are long overdue then, right?
“Yeah, of course. I mean, it’s just common sense that guys shouldn’t be playing a full game at that point. It’s just common sense because you got some guys who are coming off of a playoff loss and some guys losing like that – what is it the AFC and NFC championship game or divisional… They’re coming off [that] loss and then they go to the Pro Bowl it’s like, man, hell no.”
If they added a skill competition specifically for you, what would that be?
“Good question. Like a maze type of thing. Like where you’re running in a maze but it’s like routes and they time it, and you might catch a couple balls in between. I think I would be really good at that.”
Three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett
What do you think about the NFL’s changes to the Pro Bowl?
“I wonder what’s the point of us going then?”
They’re going to be adding skills competitions aside from Flag football game.
“I’m OK with that.”
You could play quarterback?
“If they want to switch our positions, I’ll happily do it.
Let me play receiver.”
The running joke is the Pro Bowl was two-hand touch anyway to prevent injuries. Do you agree with that characterization of it?
“I mean, you saw last year. It was just very soft. And that’s, honestly, not a bad thing. Guys are coming off of either not playing for a while or just getting done playing. Nobody wants to get hurt.”
So you feel the changes are a good thing?
“I think we have to see what our options are at this point because guys don’t want to get hurt and that’s taking away from the integrity of the game a little bit, but I have to understand where we’re coming from. Not a lot of guys are fresh going into it, so if they want to push it back or move it a little bit or orient it in a way where guys can come in fresh and have a real reason to want to go in and play the game hard, then yeah. But if Flag football is what we want to do, then I’m all for it but I guess I’ll be all-time wide receiver or quarterback.”
Is there a skills challenge event you’d be into?
“Jarvis [Landry] already held it down with Dodgeball so I don’t need to do anything in that but if they want some basketball, I’m happy to hoop on some guys.”
Four-time Pro Bowl left guard Joel Bitonio
What are your thoughts on the elimination of the Pro Bowl, and it being replaced with Flag football?
“I think it’s a good move. I’ve played in it the last few years like you said and it was almost getting to the point where it was like, guys don’t want to get hurt on the field. Guys don’t want to go out there and… they play through the season, they play for the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl is a great honor and guys appreciate the week and being there with other Pro Bowlers but like actually getting out there and playing a full game, that takes a lot of the guys. And if guys were going full speed the entire time, it’s a dangerous sport. So I think it’s a good change. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the games [during] the week, but I think it’s a smart move and we’ll kind of see what happens as they go through it. And I think the guys will b competitive, maybe more competitive with the Flag football, some of the guys playing in that.”
Did the NFL reach out to you for feedback?
Yeah, so I think every year we get a Pro Bowl survey after you go to the Pro Bowl and they ask you, ‘Where would you like it to be’ or ‘what’d you think of this experience’ or ‘that experience’ and then when you’re there you kind of talk to the people and stuff like that. They ask you questions about it and so I think it was just like a pretty…overall I think guys were like, ‘this game is getting pretty [bad].’ We don’t want to [put on a bad show]… The fans pay to go to the game and it’s kind of just like a walk through tempo mostly. There’s a few plays it picks up but I think it’s been the last few years they’ve been trying to get feedback and understand what guys want to do.”
They’re adding competitive events during the week. What do you think about that?
“Yeah, if there’s a wing contest or something like that maybe I’ll be part of that. It’s a good week. It’s usually a fun week. You get to hang out with the guys, so I think just putting guys into that atmosphere is going to be good. We’ll see what they are. I think guys had fun with the Dodgeball and the obstacle course and stuff, so those are things that you’re not doing on a regular basis that are like, ‘Hey this is part of it because like I said, getting up, I feel like truly the best players in the league wanted to play a competitive game, like it would be a bloodbath - guys are going hard. It’s tough on guys. You’re not having any plays off so it’d be very intense, but I think the week, it will be good and we’ll see how it goes.”