Being picked for the NFL’s all-star game is an honor reserved for top players. It is a tradition that began more than a decade before the first Super Bowl was played and is now in its 63rd year.
However, for the elite band of players that were to represent either the American Football Conference (AFC) or National Football Conference (NFC) in yesterday’s Pro Bowl in Hawaii, it can also be a mixed blessing.
For the many players who never get to experience the thrill of winning a Super Bowl, the annual Pro Bowl can be a career highlight. However, it can also end their career if things go wrong and they suffer a serious injury.
Critics have slammed the game as a glorified exhibition, with some players opting to skip it and teams racking up huge offensive numbers against half-hearted defenses.
In 2011, the NFC won 55-41, tying the record for the highest score by a winning team. It was a record that did not last long.
Last year, the AFC won 59-41 as the teams combined to rack up 100 points for only the second time in the game’s history. In 2004, the AFC scored 52 points, but incredibly lost by five.
The NFL has not been amused by the massive scorelines and apparent lack of effort by some players and league commissioner Roger Goodell has threatened to cut it from the calendar unless the players began to take it seriously.
The players have been warned and know they are competing for more than just their conference.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, making his 12th appearance in the fixture, addressed his AFC teammates in the lead-up to the game and told them they should play hard.
“The past two years, the play in this game has been unacceptable,” Manning said. “If it was a walk through, your coach would say it was a bad walk through and that’s why [the league] could try to cancel this game.”
His teammates vowed to put on a real show.
“It’s simple,” Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey told NFL.com. “Just play hard. Like you do on a Sunday. If you do that, the rest will take care of itself.”
The game still gets impressive television viewing figures, but it remains to be seen whether this year’s fixture will be played hard enough to satisfy the NFL.
The NFL has said it hopes to make a decision on the Pro Bowl’s future by the time it releases next season’s schedule in April.
More than a dozen players have turned down invitations to play this year, citing injuries. The two sides have also lost a combined 15 players who are involved in the Feb. 3 Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens.
Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, one of 30 players making their first Pro Bowl appearance, said he would treat it like any other game.
“I guess some folks weren’t happy with the play last year, but I think guys will take it upon themselves to keep this game going for many years to come and play hard,” he said.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
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