The 2016 NFL Pro Bowl comes our way this Sunday the 31st of January 2016 at 8:05 PM when some 86 NFL players will take part in this event.
This past Tuesday the 1st selections for the teams were made by the NFL team captains in M. Irvin and J. Rice both of the Pro Bowl Hall of Fame, while D. Woodson a 5 time Pro Bowler with Team Irvin and E. Davis a 2 time Pro Bowler with team Rice as they are the defensive co-captains and also assist in the selection of players. All players were announced on a show viewed on television on Wednesday night.
The press coverage has stated the NFL players are avoiding the Pro Bowl game in numbers that could be of as historic nature, and that trend surely will prompt discussions pertaining to the continuation of the Pro Bowl All Star show. Originally for this 2016 Pro Bowl some 86 players were voted into the game. Then players choose to decline their invitations for many reasons including injuries, but it appears that this year a surprising numbers declined for lack of interest.
Yes the former Heisman winner from FSU, and now with the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay QB J. Winston is headed to Hawaii and he was the 8th Alternate. Since many players declined the invitation and that has required the league to go way down their list in order to fill the vacancies. Especially hard hit was the QB position as Seattle QB Wilson was the only player that remained on the original roster for QB’s. Invitations were decline by QB Newton of the Panthers since he is playing in the Super Bowl 50 while QB’s T. Brady-Patriots, A. Rodgers-Packers, B. Roethlisberger-Steelers and C. Palmer-Cardinals all declined. Alternate invitations were declined by A. Dalton-Bengals due to hand injury as P. Rivers-Chargers, D. Brees-Saints also.
After all was said and done the QB’s for the game are Wilson-Seattle, Carr-Raiders, E. Manning-Giants, Taylor-Bills, Bridgewater-Vikings and Winston-Buccaneers.
Once again the scheduling of this Pro Bowl game affects the player attendance when it is played so near the date of the Super Bowl event. That plus the fact the incentives are not attractive enough especially for the alternates, as players only receive bonuses from their contractual agreements if among the originals voted in for the game. Apart from that winning team players receive $58,000 while $29,000 goes to the losers.
As it turns on for the Pro Bowl 16 will be an event for the upcoming stars of the NFL, and that could bring some new ideas as this event move forward in future years. It would be great if this Pro Bowl event was a true All-Star team game for the season’s end, but with the conflicts with the Super Bowl dates, then maybe it should be turned in to an event for the future stars of the NFL who would be anxious to participate in the event and get the news coverage and all the bells and whistles that go with such an annual event.