NFL needs a Pro Bowl Weekend Skills Competition

It’s that time of year again. That wonderful time when the bashing of the NFL Pro Bowl comes around and we beg the NFL to move on.

While players have begun to play (slightly) more aggressively, the viewership and interest of the game has gone down. After nearly eight percent of TV viewers watched the event in 2013, the past two years have seen a dramatic decrease down to about 5.6% of viewers. It’s always a shootout game and the lack of defense is always sobering for NFL fans.

The league has tried to make modifications in recent years. They followed the NHL and had an all-star game draft, allowing current and former players to draft their own teams in a “fantasy draft” format. While the inaugural draft brought some intrigue, the viewership for that event is just as low as the game.

To reinvigorate Pro Bowl weekend, the NFL needs to take a page out of every other major sport leagues book and have a night of skills based competitions. Major League Baseball has the Home run Derby, the NBA has the Dunk Contest, and the NHL just had its All-Star skills competition.

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The NFL needs to primarily focus on what the NHL has done with their skills competition. The NHL has events such as the breakaway goal contest, shootout event, fastest skater, hardest shot, and accuracy. The players really get into it and the entire arena is filled to capacity. The breakaway challenge is especially fun because players use costumes and special tricks not usually seen in hockey to bring life to the party.

Right away you can pull events from the NHL right into the NFL skills competition. Most accurate quarterback, fastest player, and hardest hit are all right there for the taking.

I for one would love to see DeSean Jackson and Tyler Lockett in a 40 yard dash lined up next to each other. Everyone always talks about who the fastest player in the league is. This is the chance to figure it out once and for all.

Why not longest field goal? Kickers are people too. There is definitely room for a kicker strength/accuracy course.

A relay match is also an option. Have a section for footwork, one-handed catches, and other skill related competition.

The whole idea is to bring interest back to Pro Bowl weekend. The NHL does it; MLB does it; the NBA does it. For some reason, the king of the four sports has yet to catch on. While it may take a year or two to catch on, it’s something the NFL desperately needs to reinvigorate the events leading up to the Super Bowl.

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