Pro Bowl a Tough Sell Without NFL’s Signature Stars

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Jan 20, 2010

Pro Bowl a Tough Sell Without NFL's Signature Stars The way Patriots players are pulling out of the Pro Bowl, you'd think they were in danger of being whisked off to a leper colony, not offered an all-expenses paid trip to an exotic location.

But Tom Brady said, "No thanks, NFL," in announcing late Tuesday that he'd be the third selected member of the Patriots — along with the injured Wes Welker and his replacement Randy Moss not to participate in the annual walk-through that is the AFC-NFC matchup. Brady has dealt with rib, shoulder and finger injuries throughout the season, and after suiting up for 17 games and gutting out another Pro Bowl-quality campaign, it's hard to blame him for not wanting to deal with another couple weeks of on-field action.

Who else will be missing the midwinter classic? Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald, last year's Pro Bowl MVP, is injured and won't play. Rams super-stud running back Steven Jackson has also begged out due to injury after rushing for over 1,400 yards in 15 games.

Philip Rivers, the third-leading vote-getter in this year's MVP race? He's staying home with his wife, who is expecting the couple's fifth child.

What about former No. 1 overall pick Jake Long of the Dolphins, arguably the league's best tackle? He pulled out with an unspecified injury.

The league's defensive player of the year Charles Woodson of the Packers and Jairus Byrd of the Bills, who tied for the NFL lead with nine interceptions apiece? Because of injuries, neither will make the trip. And there likely will be more names added to the list of withdrawals.

How long will it be before Peyton Manning says he can't go because his dog ate his plane ticket?

Oh, and did I mention that the NFL has moved the Pro Bowl from the Sunday after the Super Bowl to the weekend between the conference title games and the Super Bowl? In other words, the NFL has made it so that no one from the teams in the Super Bowl can play in the Pro Bowl. That could affect 10 players from the Vikings — including Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson and Jared Allen — six from the Colts (Manning, among them), five from the Saints (including Drew Brees) and four from the Jets (like all-world corner Darrelle Revis).

To add insult to injury, instead of playing the game in its usual haunt of Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, this year's tilt will be held in the slightly less exotic location of Miami, the home of the following Sunday's Super Bowl.

I understand the idea of taking advantage of that off weekend between games and capitalizing on the interest of the fan base while it's still somewhat hot. It also makes scheduling sense in that fans and media headed to Miami for the big game can now come just a few days earlier to catch this somewhat-less-big game.

But the NFL can't be too keen on the idea of its showcase event ( … OK, its second-biggest occasion … OK, it's really nothing more than a postseason scrimmage) turning into an overhyped and vastly overblown matchup between a bunch of second-tier All-Pros. And that's just what it's turned into.

No disrespect to the very deserving Logan Mankins, Vince Wilfork and Brandon Meriweather — who will represent the Patriots in Miami — but if I'm going to dedicate three-plus hours of my Sunday to an exhibition game, I at least want to see the big names out there.

According to NFL.com, concerns have been raised that "attendance and viewership could drop because of the NFL's experiment to move the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl," largely because the players from the Super Bowl teams would not be on the field.

Hmmm, maybe that's something they should have thought about beforehand. Or did the NFL wizards who thought this up expect to see the Chiefs and Lions — neither of which has a single All-Pro — in the Super Bowl?

Maybe I'm wrong and playing the Pro Bowl in the tweener week will be a huge hit. But someone will have to clue me in. I'll be taking the Brady approach on Jan. 31: No thanks.

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