where is the pro bowl game thread?

[denverYooper]

Larry Fitzgerald was on Mike and Mike this morning and he mentioned that they didn't put on a very good show. He basically said that they didn't have to hit hard and risk injuries but they could have played with more intensity so as to put on a better act for fans. He blamed the lack of intensity on a large crop of n00bs playing this year.

[Pugger]

Yes, a lot more. $25,000/week for the 17 week season is $425,000/year. That's not much more than minimum salary for a rookie, and it is less than the 2011 minimum salary for a player with any NFL experience at all ($450,000 for a 1st year player).

Would it help if each player received his normal weekly salary for participating in this 'game'? The players now might not feel it is worth risking it to play for $25K. The reason the intensity increases in the 4th quarter is the additional $25K at stake.

[swede]

I think that the Pro-Bowl is an honor that should be nothing more than a sincere honorarium. I have stated in the past, and I maintain to this day, that the players' wives should stand in as surrogate combatants in Honolulu by playing beach volleyball in bikinis for jell-o shots in the week before the Super Bowl.

That would draw more interest.

[Freak Out]

Hell.....make it a charity softball game.

[Pugger]

Larry Fitzgerald was on Mike and Mike this morning and he mentioned that they didn't put on a very good show. He basically said that they didn't have to hit hard and risk injuries but they could have played with more intensity so as to put on a better act for fans. He blamed the lack of intensity on a large crop of n00bs playing this year.

Something tells me Fitzgerald's remarks will not get the attention Rodgers' did...

[Joemailman]

Something tells me Fitzgerald's remarks will not get the attention Rodgers' did...

No but this might:

http://eye-on-football.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22475988/34705393

"I really didn't think that was the kind of football that we want to be demonstrating for our fans," Goodell said on Mike and Mike Sunday morning. "And you heard it from the fans. The fans were actively booing in the stands. They didn't like what they were seeing."

At the very least, Goodell said, something's going to change or the game will go away.

"We're either going to have to improve the quality of what we're doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that's the kind of quality game we're going to provide," Goodell said. "I know players love to be in Hawaii but we have to start with the quality of what we're doing.

"If the fans are responding negatively to what we're doing, we better listen. And that was my message."

Well said, Commissioner.

[pbmax]

Players voted least valuable on both sides for Defense, Offense and Special Teams have to spend a week in Bristol with Skip Bayliss after the Pro Bowl.

"So tell me LVP, when did you stop beating your girlfriend?"

That will get their attention.

[Patler]

Allow each pro bowl player to select a college surrogate at his position. Bring the college kids in to play in front of all the NFL scouts. Let the pro-bowl players mingle with the college kids during the week, be with them in practice, etc. Let the pro-bowlers pick anyone they want from the college ranks, so long as he plays the same position. Let it be a former team mate in college, relative, all-american or small college unheard of.

The college kids would bust their asses in front of the NFL scouts, coaches and players.

[MJZiggy]

Allow each pro bowl player to select a college surrogate at his position. Bring the college kids in to play in front of all the NFL scouts. Let the pro-bowl players mingle with the college kids during the week, be with them in practice, etc. Let the pro-bowlers pick anyone they want from the college ranks, so long as he plays the same position. Let it be a former team mate in college, relative, all-american or small college unheard of.

The college kids would bust their asses in front of the NFL scouts, coaches and players.

That is a stellar idea that you should send to Roger immediately.

[Pugger]

They already have a few all star games for college kids. The rules in place for the Pro Bowl created the way it is played and why the 'game' is now so lame. It would help if they could actually play it like a normal game. Do the other sports - baseball, hockey and basketball - have different rules for their all star games?

[Joemailman]

The rules aren't really the problem. Linebackers haven't been able to blitz for a while. That doesn't mean that the defensive linemen can't make an effort to rush the passer. The Pro Bowl will never be like a normal game, but what happened this year was far worse than it used to be.

[Pugger]

I thought nobody could blitz....?

[Joemailman]

I thought nobody could blitz....?

D-Linemen rushing the passer isn't considered blitzing. Teams in the Pro Bowl have to play a 4-3. Pretty sure the 4 D-Linemen can rush the passer.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Well said, Commissioner.

I'm starting to get convinced that most fans are pretty upset about the pro bowl, but what suggestions did the commissioner offer?

The only idea that he or anybody here really offered is to cancel the game. (Sorry, patler, I can't take your take-a-college-student-to-work day idea seriously.)

[swede]

wives

bikinis

jello-shots

croquet