Pro Bowl Festivities Continue to Anger Fans

League implements new rules to reduce contact every year, further infuriating fans

Every year the National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowl is played right in between the high-intensity playoffs and the Super Bowl. This is a weekend in which the league's best players come together and represent their respected conference, as well as compete for the benefit of their declared charity. The game ended in favor of the American Football Conference (AFC) with a final score of 41-35.

From 1980 to 2016, the Pro Bowl was held in Hawaii. But at the end of 2016, the NFL reached a multi-year deal to play in Orlando, Florida. Over the years, the game has suffered from low ratings and criticism as contact during the game has been banned to reduce injuries. This year's Pro Bowl consists of two-hand touch, avoiding pretty much all types of contact. For fans, this is not the ideal situation, as they would love to see the best players in the game go full-on head-to-head.

When asking around Santa Clara campus, some passionate football fans stated how the game could be considered a waste of time.

"It wasn't real football," exclaimed sophomore Alan Rossi.

“The players enjoy the game since it's just another money grab, as a fan it’s the worst game of

the year and it has been for the past few years”, added sophomore Luke Patterson.

This year's Pro Bowl, played on Feb. 6 in Las Vegas, Nevada, was filled with skills challenges, games, and a ton of entertainment. The Pro Bowl Skills Showdown, a series of skill-testing exercises, included precision passing, ‘thread the needle’, best catch, fastest man, and most anticipated of all, an epic dodgeball match.

The quarterbacks for the National Football Conference (NFC) were Kyler Murray of the Arizona Cardinals, Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks and Kirk Cousins of the Minnesota Vikings. On the other side, Mac Jones of the New England Patriots, Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers and Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs took the start for the American Football Conference (AFC).

Other notable players selected to the Pro Bowl included fellow San Francisco 49er Deebo Samuel, George Kittle, Kyle Juszczyk, and Nick Bosa. This season the Niners had seven Pro Bowl selections, tied for the most in the league.

Deebo, Kittle, and Juszcyk showed out for the Niners, combining for nine receptions, 88 receiving yards and a touchdown. They enjoyed the spotlight in Las Vegas while fellow teammates Nick Bosa and Trent Williams sat out as a result of injuries.

The game was sloppy right off the bat as Kyler Murray threw an interception in the first three minutes. It was an early indicator of what was to come as the defensive prowess of both teams took over the game. Both teams combined for seven touchdowns, seven interceptions, and 20 fourth-down conversions;the NFC combined for 287 offensive yards, while the AFC had 315 yards.

In the end, Justin Herbert was named offensive Pro Bowl MVP in just his second year in the league. On the other side of the ball, Maxx Crosby of the Las Vegas Raiders took home the defensive Pro Bowl MVP.

This year the Pro Bowl game also consists of no kickoffs; instead, teams start on the 25-yard line of their opponents. Another rule that differs from the standard NFL rules is reducing the play clock to 35 seconds from the typical 40 seconds. Incomplete passes also did not stop the clock unless it was the last two minutes of the first half, or the last five minutes of the second half.

The Pro Bowl has essentially become a game for the NFL to test out new rules with NFL players, but fails to serve as an actual representation of competition since contact is a nonfactor. Whether the league will take the Pro Bowl in a new direction remains to be seen. What is certain: fans are not afraid to voice their opinions on the nature of the “game”.

With all the Pro-Bowl festivities out the way, the center of attention again moves back to the big game, the Super Bowl. The Rams will be representing the NFC, while the Cincinnati Bengals will represent the AFC. The game will be held at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, February 13, in what could be considered a home game for the Rams. Kickoff is expected to be at 3:30 PM PDT.