Did you know the NFL Pro Bowl is coming up this weekend? That’s right – the NFL moved the Pro Bowl to the weekend BEFORE the Super Bowl this year. The Pro Bowl is a game that honors some of the games best players, voted in by the fans. However, this year it seems a little different. Due to the game being played before the Super Bowl, players who are in the big game are not allowed to play in the Pro Bowl – that comes out to 14 total players on the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts that are ineligible.

There has been a lot of negative press about the NFL’s decision to move the game to before the Super Bowl. In my opinion, the NFL made this move because they want to have their all-star game while football is still on the fan’s mind. After the Super Bowl is over people tend to check out and move on – especially since the Pro Bowl is an exhibition game and doesn’t mean anything. By moving the game to before the Super Bowl, they add a game during what used to be a 2-week break from football and create an amazing experience in Miami.

The problem with the move is a lot of the players we voted in to the Pro Bowl are backing out – whether it’s because they are in the Super Bowl or are injured. Another theory is that some players are backing out of the Pro Bowl because it is in Miami. Miami is a great city but let’s be real … it’s not Hawaii. Players used to look forward to taking the trip to Hawaii and spending some vacation time out there.

It will definitely be interesting to see if the television ratings are up or down for the Pro Bowl on Sunday. In my opinion, they’ll get more viewers but people won’t be as excited to see a game that doesn’t have Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Philip Rivers, Reggie Wayne, and Drew Brees.