NFL Pro Bowl
The Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player trophy
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| First played | 1951 |
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 Recent and upcoming games
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| 2017 season | |
| January 28, 2018 (Details) | |
The Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League (NFL). From the merger with the rival American Football League (AFL) in 1970 up through 2013 and resuming in 2016, it is officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference (AFC) against those in the National Football Conference (NFC). Between 2014 and 2016, the NFL experimented with an unconferenced format, where the teams were selected by two honorary team captains (who are each in the Hall of Fame), instead of selecting players from each conference. The players were picked in a televised "schoolyard pick" prior to the game.
Unlike most major sports leagues, which hold their all-star games roughly midway through their respective regular seasons, the Pro Bowl is played around the end of the NFL season. Between 1970 and 2009, it was usually held the weekend after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, the Pro Bowl has been played the weekend before the Super Bowl. Players from the two teams competing in the Super Bowl do not participate.
Observers and commentators expressed their disfavor with the Pro Bowl in its current state. It draws lower TV ratings than its regular-season games, although the game draws similar ratings to other major all-star games, such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the star players. The Associated Press wrote that players in the 2012 game were "hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight".
Between 1980 and 2016, the game was played at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii, save for two years. On June 1, 2016, the NFL announced that they reached a multi-year deal to move the game to Orlando, Florida as part of the league's ongoing efforts to make the game more relevant. For years, the game has suffered from lack of interest due to perceived low quality. The 2017 Pro Bowl will also mark a return to the AFC–NFC format.
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