January 20, 2010
Gratuitous Off-Topic Question
How can the Pro Bowl be scheduled for the week before the Super Bowl this year? Surely that will take out any player from either team playing for the championship. I mean, what coach is going to risk getting his stars banged up the week before the Big One?
If such SB-bound players get some kind of honorary PB status - maybe suiting up and running one token play in the Pro Bowl, for instance, or even just being included on one of the rosters - doesn't that unfairly take away slots from other potential picks? Or has the League bumped up the number of players to be selected in anticipation that a given number won't be able to play?
On the other hand, if such players are not allowed to play because their teams have been good enough to make it to the Super Bowl, surely their denial of recognition in the Pro Bowl format is somewhat perverse.
I haven't researched this at all, so maybe there are answers to all these questions already, but on the face of it moving the Pro Bowl up seems to me a pretty stupid idea.
Of course, I've always thought the Pro Bowl itself to be a pretty stupid idea.
Posted by Robert at January 20, 2010 12:08 PM | TrackBackLots of players decline to play in the PB. I think they still get to call themselves Pro Bowl players, but someone else takes the spot.
So Payton & Brett (you can tell who I'm picking, though a Jets win would be nice) will be called Pro Bowlers even though they'll be safely ensconced in their hotel rooms.
Posted by: rbj at January 20, 2010 12:34 PMMoving it to the week before the Super Bowl was one of the dumber ideas the NFL has had. No coach whose team is going to the SB is going to let their players anywhere near the field.
Not like the Pro Bowl is a great game anyway. It's honestly a glorified scrimmage. But the fans who do watch are going to be denied seeing certain players simply because they're good enough to get to the SB. Insane.
Posted by: Steve at January 20, 2010 02:36 PMFrom wikipdia:
Rosters for the AFC and NFC teams will not be allowed to include any players from the teams that will be playing in Super Bowl XLIV (as to avoid major injuries on either team), and as such, the game can thus be considered a "consolation bowl" for the players on the Pro Bowl teams.
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