Dec. 24, 2009

Pro Bowl shift to Miami will leave fans out in cold

By Clark Judge | CBSSports.com Senior Writer
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The fans have spoken, and what they say is that they want to see a lot of Minnesota Vikings and Indianapolis Colts at this season's Pro Bowl.

Sounds good to me. I mean, if you're going to have an all-star game you should invite people like Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson.

You want to see Adrian Peterson in the Pro Bowl again? It's doubtful in Miami. (US Presswire)

The idea to shift the game was to generate interest, and, at first glance, it seems like a good one. But then you study the results of this week's fan balloting -- figures that comprise one-third of the overall votes -- and you realize that what the people want is not necessarily what they will get.

For instance, they want 10 Minnesota Vikings as starters, and, sorry, that's just not going to happen. It's not because the Vikings don't have 10 players who should start, and, let's be honest, they don't. Nope, it's deeper than that, and it's why stars like Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers and Brett Favre and Drew Brees may not suit up for the postseason event.

Sometimes, they back out because they're not interested. But this season there's a better excuse: They may be busy, and let me explain. By holding the game the weekend before the Super Bowl you automatically eliminate players from the two best teams, and that should be a significant number.

But, in all likelihood, you eliminate most of the players from the conference championship games, too. They played six days before, and I'd be shocked if the losers are up for running off to Florida to play again.

The two best teams in the AFC are Indianapolis and San Diego, and it's not even close. They could meet in the conference championship game, and they should. But that might eliminate Manning, who edged Drew Brees for most fan votes, and it might eliminate most of the other four Colts fans chose.

It could also remove someone like Rivers or Chargers' tight end Antonio Gates. All I know is that there's a lot of star power that could get unplugged.

But the situation is worse in the NFC, where 11 Vikings and Saints dominate the fans' ballots. Minnesota and New Orleans should be the NFC's top two seeds, and it's a good bet that one of them makes it to the conference championship game. But let's say both do. Then what?

Well, then you have a Pro Bowl dialing 911. I'm not saying there's a mass exodus, but tell me why guys who snubbed the Pro Bowl when it was the last game of the season should suddenly be interested because it has been moved to late January. My guess is they're not.

I know, from a fan's point of view, switching the game to that date makes sense. It fills a vacant weekend between the conference championship games and Super Bowl XLIV. But from the player's perspective? Uh-uh.

Now, let's get back to Minnesota and New Orleans. There's a growing feeling that the Vikings aren't going to reach the Super Bowl; that they're beginning to disintegrate as Brett Favre battles his head coach for the steering wheel. OK, so let's say it throws them, and the Vikings fail to reach the Super Bowl. You're going to tell me that Brett Favre is interested in playing a made-for-TV event when he doesn't have to? There's a better chance of a Beatles reunion.

Favre has enough trouble making it to training camp every year. So how does he make it to Ft. Lauderdale after a long and grueling season? I say he doesn't. He was named the starter in the 2008 Pro Bowl, but after losing the NFC championship game three weeks before he backed out, saying he didn't want to risk re-injuring an ankle.

Yeah, sure. He didn't show up because he didn't want to play a game that meant nothing.

Fair enough. That's his prerogative. But it's a signal of what lies ahead for Florida and this season's Pro Bowl. The NFL had trouble getting fans and players interested in the annual all-star game, so it decided to try something different -- and that was smart. But trying something that eliminates players from the two best teams and could eliminate players from the top four was not.

Five of the first six vote-getters in this week's fan poll are from Indianapolis, New Orleans and Minnesota. That tells you what you already know -- namely, that the best teams have the best players. But the best players may not be at the game honoring them because of other commitments, like a game on either side of Pro Bowl weekend.

Uh-oh. Somebody start dialing 911.