The NFL continues to make adjustments to improve the product, especially the Pro Bowl experience. Kansas City Chiefs players have routinely earned selections to the event, whether in a traditional football game or a flag football competition, but that appears to be coming to an end.
The NFL announcedit will cancel the annual all-star showcase. There won't be a game, but the league will still name 88 Pro Bowlers at the end of each season, without replacements or alternates.
"I think we've been focused on the game. You've heard me say it for many years about the quality of the game in the Pro Bowl. I don't think it's up to NFL standards. And that's why we changed to the flag game several years ago. So I'm not sure the last time you want to say we played
a game in a football sense," said Goodell to Front Office Sports. So I think this is something that we talked to our players about, the Pro Bowl players in particular. We had conference calls the last couple years: What's working? What's not? What would you like to see? And the number one thing that came out—and there were a lot of wonderful comments by the players—one is: 'We want to be honored and celebrated as a Pro Bowl player.'… It just opened my eyes. I never really thought about it in the context of that."
The league has played a Pro Bowl game since 1938, except in 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic forced a change. The reimagined Pro Bowl Games replaced the traditional game because of injury risks and featured dodgeball, skills challenges, and flag football.
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Kansas City Chiefs stars may have played their last Pro Bowl game
