AFC-NFC 2010 Pro Bowl – was it real football?

The 2010 Pro Bowl on Jan. 24 was successful as far as sales and TV Cable ratings are concerned. In fact, the crowd of 70,697 was the largest since the Pro Bowl of 1959 in Los Angeles, and the ratings were the highest they have been in a decade. And I suppose if the game is meant to be played merely for fun and not to be viewed as a serious football game, then it can be ruled a success in that sense as well. However, does that really make up for the fact that 40% of the players selected did not play, and among those absent were Payton Manning and Drew Brees (the Super Bowl quarterbacks)? Of course, no one is downplaying the achievements of Matt Schaub (Houston Texans) and Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers), who both threw two touchdowns, or the amazing seven catches of Vincent Jackson.

But isn’t a Football Pro Bowl (as are the All Star baseball and basketball games) meant to be played by a composite of the year’s all-stars? Forty percent absentee rate is certainly not a good showing. But again, if the game was meant for pure entertainment it certainly fulfilled its purpose, as both teams threw for more than 400 yards and the big score of 41-34 definitely made for some incredible fast-moving action.

It will be interesting to see if officials will handle next year’s game – back in Hawaii – differently. That is to say, if the Pro Bowl occurs after the Super Bowl, rather than the week before, will more of the all-star players be able to appear?