Just when you thought the Pro Bowl couldn't get any more slappy, Deion Sanders tweeted today that he plans on playing in the game and is hoping to talk Jerry Rice into doing so as well.
Great.
The game has already become a joke - even before the league went to its no conference designation this year. Players don't want to go. And they certainly don't want to play in another game.
But obviously somebody thinks - Roger Goodell? - that Sanders playing will help pump up the non-existent ratings or make some of the stars want to play?
I watched Sanders not tackle anyone throughout his NFL career. Why in the hell would I want to watch him again in a game in which tackling in notoriously lacking?
As for getting Rice to play, we saw him hold onto his playing career way too long as it was. Doesn't anyone remember the Oakland years when he couldn't get open against linebackers?
The league should scrap the entire Pro Bowl. Just name the team. Let the players who are named go to Hawaii or some other exotic place and make it like "Battle of the Network Stars."
Let them compete in cornhole or rope climbing or horseshoes for all I care. But don't put them on a football field with absolutely no intention of actually playing, you know, football and tell me I should care about it.
And don't subject me to any more Deion Sanders.
@ The Pro Football Writers of America released their All-Pro and All-AFC and NFC teams today.
Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown was the only Pittsburgh player named, earning a spot on the All-AFC roster.
11 comments:
Steve-O said...
I couldn't agree more Dale. As a kid Growing up in Hawaii in the late 70's and early 80s I watched the game in person and even then it wasn't much more than a scrimmage. I got to see the likes of Joe Greene, Terry Bradshaw, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell and Ahmad Rashad practice at my high school and never once was it more than a cute sideshow with some friendly bantering between the players. The game has always been a sham and this newest wrinkle is a self deluding effort by the NFL to make the irrelevant relevant. Total Joke.
Add in Deion Sanders who can't seem to accept his own athletic irrelevancy and I'm reminded of the Seinfeld cast members who famously called themselves a show.... "About nothing."
As for Antonio Brown's selection to the sports writers All Pro team. I think they got it right. There were a few Steelers who deserve honorable mention (Ben, Jason, and Cam) but Brown was the only guy who consistently brought his A game from week 1 to week 16. Kudos to him.
Timmons had a great year and probably should have made it. He was a tackling machine despite playing half the year with a broken hand.
I believe ABC Wide World of Sports had a Super Teams variation. They could revive that and make the weekend before the Super Bowl an NFL weekend at Disney. ESPN and ABC can run wall to wall cross branding programming along with the Disney Channel. Everybody wins?
"battle of the network stars," funny you bring that up dale. you can watch some of those old shows on you tube. we talked about doing something like that too.
the pro bowl has been a joke for decades. can't even tell you the last decade i watched any part of it ??
at the moment the nfl is on top of the world as far as income goes. that isn't going to last much longer. ticket/merchandise prices are ridiculous. rog is salivating at the money a team and super bowl will bring the league, he has no idea of the backlash that will bring. the never ending nuetering of defenses, horrible officiating, replay doesn't work at all like it should....etc
rog and the owners thought they got away cheap with the health settlement....oops, not so fast. i would imagine it gets doubled before it is approved.
the problem with the injury settlement is that the whole situation has forced the league to implement the bull crap rules on hitting, etc. to avoid future lawsuits. further, the rules on "sissifying" the league don't mean anything unless they are enforced by the refs, which is why the refs are under so much pressure by the league on a weekly basis.
imo, it is only going to get worse and within the next 5-10 years there will be special jerseys worn by QB's who cannot be hit unless they pass the line of scrimmage and even then no helmet-to-helmet contact. punters/kickers will also have "no-contact" jerseys.
it is also likely that at some point WR's will not be allowed to be "hit with the intent of tackling or dislodging the ball" until they have "established two feet on the ground and transitioned into running the ball." you think that kind of language is crazy? - it's only a matter of time.
imo, players who want to compete in the NFL should have to sign a waiver regarding their acknowledgement of potentially debilitating injuries and will not sue the nfl, etc, etc.
I think if they got a health insurance for life and a 25k pension like baseball players, it would go a long way toward alleviating this mess.
Zac in Tempe
the league and the players union kept "labor peace" during the last negotiating period by ignoring everything that really needed work. same with the nfl and the refs, they needed to be full time a decade ago. but the nfl had no real plan for replacements, so they caved.
Here's hoping that the rest of the AFC North teams experience some growing pains as everyone has had significant coaching turnover already this off-season. (Bengal OC and DC, Ravens OC and Browns suck)
if the ravens end up brining in norv turner that may be an upgrade for them.
i would worry about norv turner. he's kinda like mike martz in that the talent they won with might have had more to do with their success than the coaching. When you have 3 hall of famers on your offense, it makes play calling a bit easier. personally i'd love to see the ravens bring him in.
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