We now know there will be a Pro Bowl next season. M.A.B. (Mothers Against Blitzing) rejoice!
And while this year's contest played less like an All-Star Game and more like a moderately aggressive version of two-hand touch, New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott found it ridiculous that the league was in talks to eliminate what he feels is both a reward and tradition.
Scott, who went to the Pro Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2006, said Thursday that Commissioner Roger Goodell shouldn't have a deciding vote in the game's fate.
"For him to want to comment, the Pro Bowl was before his reign and it will be after his reign," Scott said, according to the New York Post. "It's not up to him, I believe, to cancel the Pro Bowl. It's tradition. It ain't about that. … You can't make someone go out there and blow their knee out. I'm not going to blow a receiver up coming across the middle. It's the offseason. Why? It's an exhibition game."
If you're hoping the game's near-death experience will scare players into competing harder going forward, don't hold your breath. Scott said players don't view the matchup as the main event of their trip to Hawaii.
"It's about the festivities," he said. "The game is just a cherry on top."
If it seems like the players aren't taking the game seriously, it's because they aren't. By the time they get to the Pro Bowl, these guys have been trying to bury each other on the field for four months. They score some points, have some fun and provide good ratings in the process. What, exactly, is the problem?
