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The NFL Needs A Skills Contest Added To Its Pro Bowl

It needs something. The NFL Pro Bowl as it stands right now is more a vacation for players and coaches while lacking any sort of competitiveness at all. It's silly, it's not played hard and it has little meaning, especially with most people looking forward to the Super Bowl on the following week.

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In other words, it reminds me a lot of the actual NBA All-Star Game. I care very little for the actual game during NBA All-Star Weekend, but I always watch the skills competitions Saturday night. The dunk contest gets most of the publicity, but the three-point contest is just as great.

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That's what the Pro Bowl needs. Line up the QBs and see how many can put a pass into a trash can in the corner of the end zone. See how many drop kicks they can make in a row. I like the suggestion of getting a bunch of non-kickers together to attempt field goals. That could be high comedy.

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Just think about having Drew Brees and Tom Brady face off in that trash can competition. Each would get two racks of footballs at the 20 and the 30 with one at the 40. Give them a minute or 90 seconds to see how many footballs they can put in there. Doesn't that sound fascinating? They'd have to move, to throw accurately and show off some arm strength.

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People point to the Robert Edwards injury in that beach flag football game for rookies as a reason the NFL doesn't want it going on any more, but if the whole reason the NFL isn't holding it is the field logistics...that's lame. This should be easy to set up with enough lead time. The NFL needs to do something to liven up the Pro Bowl. Crazy skill competitions could be just the thing.

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Images by eflon used in background images under a Creative Commons license. Thank you.