Column | The problems with the Pro Bowl

Although it may devalue my opinions, it’s essential to note that the NFL’s Pro Bowl games are not for me. While I am a patron of the NFL’s products through purchasing jerseys, TV packages and tickets to attend games, the Pro Bowl is not something I can afford to spend my time on.

Even if I don’t enjoy the product, I do see the value of the Pro Bowl. Football, unlike other major sports, makes it difficult to see the athlete’s face. Other than slo-mo cuts to commercials, players’ emotions are hidden. Some of the human element of the game is lost behind necessary helmets.

In the Pro Bowl, these world-class athletes don’t have their bulky pads or helmets on, making them seem much more real. You can see Justin Jefferson’s sparkly jewelry or Joe Burrow’s new hairstyle while they’re playing their game. The human element of the game is present in a way that fans don’t typically experience.

One of the problems, though, is that these Pro Bowlers — the “best” football players in the world — aren’t playing football. They’re jumping rope or playing hopscotch. They’re throwing a football as far as they can or into trash cans. They’re trying to catch footballs with gloves that are too slippery or too big.

There’s nothing wrong with these athletes playing games other than football, even if some of them are silly. While the athletes showing off their appearance and personality adds to the human element that football fans love, it isn’t the part that many fans watch for.

Football is a dangerous game. Author Chuck Klosterman on the “Pablo Torre Finds Out Podcast” said, “No one wants to see someone die on the football field, but the fact that it is possible does raise the stakes.” That danger is one of the many reasons football fans are hooked. Every Sunday, people all over the globe sweat that the champions, the gladiators, they sponsor will leave the coliseum able to return and battle again the next week.

Stepping onto the gridiron is so serious that playing one extra snap, let alone one more game, can spell disaster. Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle on near-meaningless snaps at the end of an overtime win against the Buffalo Bills in the Divisional Round of this season’s playoffs. Had Nix stayed on the sideline for that play, it’s possible the Broncos would have defeated the Patriots in the AFC Championship and faced the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

When NFL owners pushed the NFLPA to play one more game, expanding the 16-game regular season to 17 games, players weren’t happy. In exchange for 1% more revenue, players had to put their bodies on the line for another four quarters.

It wasn’t all bad. The collective bargaining agreement that brought a 17th game also increased the compensation players get for participating in the Pro Bowl. Last season, the amount was $92,000 for the winners and $46,000 for the losers. This amount will increase every year until 2030. For Team NFC quarterback Matthew Stafford — the favorite to take home the MVP Award — who made $44 million in 2025 from the Los Angeles Rams alone, that’s only a 0.21% bonus on the table for winning one more game of “football.”

It’s no surprise that Stafford opted out of the Pro Bowl games. The NFL recognized this issue of the league’s stars opting out by changing the game from tackle football to flag football in 2023. Stafford wouldn’t have to run or get tackled — only throw — and he still opted out.

While the quarterback is often the position most affected by opt-outs, it is a roster-wide issue. Fifteen of the 39 offensive or defensive players originally named to the Pro Bowl roster in the AFC are not participating in the games, while only 11 of the 39 players in the NFC are. Reasons for opting out vary from injury to preparing for the Super Bowl to completely unknown. In the AFC, all three quarterbacks originally named Pro Bowlers are not participating.

The solution is a difficult one to come to. These athletes can’t afford to play any more football, especially for poor compensation relative to their salaries. On the viewer end of things, I don’t enjoy a product that looks and sounds like football, but isn’t football.

The issue of player health and safety is a serious one. Understandably, these athletes who make millions of dollars only if their body is in playing-condition don’t want to jeopardize their money maker. But the Pro Bowl has another, much more funny problem — a bookkeeping problem.

When it comes to a player’s resume, accolades matter. Collecting Super Bowl rings and MVP trophies helps showcase a player’s football career in a trophy case. Making the Pro Bowl roster, however, comes with no physical honor — just the bonus check for playing in the game and a new box on their Pro Football Reference page.

For many, the acknowledgement is enough. Making the Pro Bowl is a reward for performing as one of the best at a specific position (or being the most popular). But once opt-outs occur, the value of that acknowledgment takes a big hit. In the AFC, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was selected as the starting quarterback. He has opted out, so Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders was named the replacement.

I’m a fan of Sanders. I was prepared for the Steelers to draft him in the first round and “save the franchise.” But is his 3-4 record, and his seven career passing touchdowns to 10 interceptions, really Pro Bowl material? Or is he just the first replacement that agreed to participate in the games?

No matter the reason, Sanders’s Pro Football Reference page will have a “1x Pro Bowl” marker just like other notable quarterbacks like Mac Jones and Tyler “Snoop” Huntley, who also earned the distinction as Pro Bowl replacements.

Many players have incentive bonuses in their contracts for postseason success on the field and through awards such as the Pro Bowl. By granting Pro Bowl acknowledgement to players who’ve hardly earned it as much as those originally selected, the value is diminished. Some contracts now state that a player must make the “original” Pro Bowl roster to receive the bonus due to the number of replacements.

Unlike the previous issues, this solution is easy. The accolade is only earned if they are selected to the original roster. Thus, football historians won’t have to explain how Huntley and his 658 passing yards earned him a spot, and players’ agents can negotiate to make incentives more player-friendly.

The Pro Bowl games aren’t going anywhere. The NFL feeds fans football for 21 straight weeks before the Super Bowl, which has a two-week lead-up. The Pro Bowl games fill that gap somewhere between the Conference Championship games and the Super Bowl, keeping fans satisfied.

But I’m not satisfied. I’m not sure how many others like me are out there — people who find these games silly and the accolade losing meaning. But there isn’t enough time for real change. This week-long lull before the big game is too short. In a few days, I’ll be in a crowd surrounding a single TV to watch two teams I don’t care about play in the Super Bowl. And come next September, I’ll sit on my couch excited for what the NFL can give me next.