NFL Pro Bowl game being eliminated, making honor more legit than ever

The NFL is finally taking the inevitable step and eliminating the Pro Bowl game. This according to a report in The Athletic. The game as it was once known has been gone for years — with the tackle game replaced by flag football — but now not even the flag football version won’t be played. Nor will any of the other events for that matter. While this is no big loss, the move comes with what should be a welcome result — no more Pro Bowl alternates.

Every year, there would be a host of players who would be named to the Pro Bowl who were entirely undeserving, just because so many players who were named ahead of them opted out of the games. That’s how we get the laughable phrase “Pro Bowl QB Shedeur Sanders” or “Four-time Pro Bowl QB Derek Carr.”

Now, because the league won’t need to fill out a roster with depth at each position, they can just put out the list of Pro Bowlers and players will be invited to an in-person celebration in Los Angeles. Since the Pro Bowl game had been a joke for years before it was made into several games — many of which had nothing to do with football — this would seem like a good solution. And it keeps the honor more pure.

This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: NFL Pro Bowl game being eliminated, making honor more legit than ever