Aaron Donald and Matthew Stafford both said they wouldn’t want to take part.
Is it really true that three of the NFC’s quarterbacks selected for the Pro Bowl this season have been with the Rams under Sean McVay since 2020? Can you believe that two of them have already expressed their desire to decline?
After deciding not to play, Matthew Stafford was selected for his second career Pro Bowl, but Geno Smith took his place.
After Jared Goff also declined to play, Baker Mayfield was selected to start in the Pro Bowl in his place.
Only one of the three quarterbacks who worked with McVay—three former first-round picks—was genuinely excited to play in the Pro Bowl. Mayfield will eventually determine it’s not worth the hassle, just wait until a year after he was in danger of being cut from the team.
Aaron Donald opted not to play in the Pro Bowl as well. They can claim that “injuries” are to blame, but we all know that’s not the case:
Nobody is concerned:
Stafford and Donald would play in the Pro Bowl without a second thought if it were a regular season game. Being named is no longer even an honor as an event. Tyler Huntley was a Pro Bowl quarterback the previous season. You move on after adding it to your resume.
It makes sense to go to your first Pro Bowl if you’re a rookie like Puka Nacua or a second-year running back like Kyren Williams, the only other two Los Angeles Pro Bowl nominees. But after the initial thrill of being selected for the Pro Bowl wears off, they won’t go, and before long, practice squad players will be on the “replacement” list.
A game that receives half the ratings of a regular season game is not even something you can claim to be playing in.
The Pro Bowl last year had the lowest non-pandemic year ratings since 2006, with 6.2 million viewers. The Pro Bowl attracted 8 million viewers after the 2020 season, compared to 11.3 million in 2014. That means that ratings are nearly half of what they used to be, despite the NFL’s recent attempts to add new events to make it more interesting.
Do you plan to watch any of the events, including the Pro Bowl? Or will you simply declare that you will, and as the weekend progresses, you come to realize… Well, it appears that I didn’t as well.
Because it appears that very few of you reading this will actually watch the Pro Bowl or any events, as indicated by the 6 million viewers. You could simply watch a late-night video on Twitter or YouTube. not really observe.
Although Donald and Stafford are among the least likely players in the league to play in a Pro Bowl at this point in their careers, they would undoubtedly prefer to have the distinction on their resumes: Donald has appeared in the Pro Bowl each of his career, while Stafford’s chances of being inducted into the Hall of Fame were undoubtedly weakened by his one Pro Bowl nomination. (To be honest, I doubt Stafford would travel to Canton for a Hall induction.)
Two of the most deserving people this year are Puka and Kyren, who are probably ecstatic to be invited. What is the duration of that excitement?
While NFL ratings are low, most TV shows have high ratings. No longer do most shows receive six million viewers. Therefore, the Pro Bowl will not be ending anytime soon. A real game cannot occur due to injury concerns, so it’s difficult to imagine what the NFL could do to genuinely pique interest. Additionally, no matter how many skill competitions or Madden activities the league creates, nothing will ever be able to match a real game.
The Pro Bowl is unimportant to who? Kyren Williams and Puka Nacua do. I guess that’s sufficient for now.
