Why 2016 Pro Bowl may have foreshadowed dark days to come in the NFL. (Part I)
The 2016 Pro Bowl was a joke. Every single website, blogger, tweeter, analyst and armchair QB agree. Just Google 2016 Pro Bowl and there will be nothing but negative articles. However, I see this more as a league wide problem that was magnified by this, for the sake of argument lets call it a, game.
Lets look at a few items from that Pro Bowl. 43 players opted out. Okay, so 14 of those are going to play in the Super Bowl which is fine. But, that still leaves 31 players that would rather do anything else other than play in the Pro Bowl. Even Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers Head Coach, went home with 'stomach aliments' leaving his offensive coordinator to head coach.
Now, lets take a trip back to 1996. Ten years before Rodger Goodell took over as NFL Commissioner. Below are the years, the scores, point totals and finally the average over those ten years:
1996: 26-23 (49)
1997: 29-24 (53)
1998: 23-10 (33)
1999: 51-31 (82)
2000: 38-17 (55)
2001: 38-30 (68)[Goodell is Executive VP/Chief Operating Officer]
2002: 45-20 (65)
2003: 55-52 (107)*
2004: 38-27 (65)
2005: 23-17 (40)
Average: 61.7 PPG (56.66 PPG with the oddity of 03' removed)
Then in August 2006 Rodger Goodell takes over. 2010 is the first year the Pro Bowl is played a week before the Super Bowl. Also, 2013 marks the first year where the Pro Bowl players are drafted to teams instead of split up by their respective conference.
2006: 31-28 (59)
2007: 42-30 (72)
2008: 30-21 (51)
2009: 41-34 (75)
2010: 55-41 (96)
2011: 59-41 (100)
2012: 62-35 (97)
2013: 22-21 (43)*
2014: 32-28 (60)
2015: 49-27 (76)
Average: 72.9PPG [+11.2PPG](throwing 2013 out, that is 76.2PPG)
Lastly, if it is going to be billed as a 'Football Game' at the pro caliber level it should be near or just that. The median price of a Pro Bowl ticket this year was $126. That is just the ticket. You still have to factor in flying to Hawaii and lodging. (Which is why a international team is just out of the question but, that is for another time) Meanwhile, a regular season ticket in non premium seating is $86. I think most would rather watch a week 4 Bills at Texans match-up that ends 20-17 because it has, oh yeah... sacks, kickoff returns, blitzing etc.. oddly enough all the things that people want to see in a football game. That is also including paying to see respective players play. No one wants to pay top dollar to watch the third stringer 'do his best.' Which is why I am sure many were upset when they didn't get to see the Mannings and Bradys but ended up with... Tyrod Taylor.
In Part II I will discuss the moving of the Pro Bowl date, who is really missing out and why and in Part III the future of the Pro bowl, the NFL and football as a whole.
Lets look at a few items from that Pro Bowl. 43 players opted out. Okay, so 14 of those are going to play in the Super Bowl which is fine. But, that still leaves 31 players that would rather do anything else other than play in the Pro Bowl. Even Mike McCarthy, the Green Bay Packers Head Coach, went home with 'stomach aliments' leaving his offensive coordinator to head coach.
Now, lets take a trip back to 1996. Ten years before Rodger Goodell took over as NFL Commissioner. Below are the years, the scores, point totals and finally the average over those ten years:
1996: 26-23 (49)
1997: 29-24 (53)
1998: 23-10 (33)
1999: 51-31 (82)
2000: 38-17 (55)
2001: 38-30 (68)[Goodell is Executive VP/Chief Operating Officer]
2002: 45-20 (65)
2003: 55-52 (107)*
2004: 38-27 (65)
2005: 23-17 (40)
Average: 61.7 PPG (56.66 PPG with the oddity of 03' removed)
Then in August 2006 Rodger Goodell takes over. 2010 is the first year the Pro Bowl is played a week before the Super Bowl. Also, 2013 marks the first year where the Pro Bowl players are drafted to teams instead of split up by their respective conference.
2006: 31-28 (59)
2007: 42-30 (72)
2008: 30-21 (51)
2009: 41-34 (75)
2010: 55-41 (96)
2011: 59-41 (100)
2012: 62-35 (97)
2013: 22-21 (43)*
2014: 32-28 (60)
2015: 49-27 (76)
Average: 72.9PPG [+11.2PPG](throwing 2013 out, that is 76.2PPG)
Lastly, if it is going to be billed as a 'Football Game' at the pro caliber level it should be near or just that. The median price of a Pro Bowl ticket this year was $126. That is just the ticket. You still have to factor in flying to Hawaii and lodging. (Which is why a international team is just out of the question but, that is for another time) Meanwhile, a regular season ticket in non premium seating is $86. I think most would rather watch a week 4 Bills at Texans match-up that ends 20-17 because it has, oh yeah... sacks, kickoff returns, blitzing etc.. oddly enough all the things that people want to see in a football game. That is also including paying to see respective players play. No one wants to pay top dollar to watch the third stringer 'do his best.' Which is why I am sure many were upset when they didn't get to see the Mannings and Bradys but ended up with... Tyrod Taylor.
In Part II I will discuss the moving of the Pro Bowl date, who is really missing out and why and in Part III the future of the Pro bowl, the NFL and football as a whole.
Comments
Post a Comment