Although the NFL announced this week that the Pro Bowl will remain in place for at least another year, Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the quality of play has grown so poor that he’s not sure it’s worth playing much longer. One player who’s been to a Pro Bowl doesn’t appreciate that assessment.
Jets linebacker Bart Scott told reporters on Thursday that he believes Goodell is wrong on the Pro Bowl front.
“What is he talking about? Tell him to get out there and put a jersey on,” Scott said.
If Scott doesn’t know what Goodell is talking about, then Scott probably hasn’t watched the Pro Bowl recently. It’s grown increasingly clear in the last few years that many of the players on the field simply don’t care if they win, lose or even look like competent professional football players, let alone the cream of the crop. There are some issues on which Goodell’s thinking is out of step with the fans’ thinking, but criticizing the quality of the play in the Pro Bowl is not one of them.
Scott, however, believes the Pro Bowl is a tradition that should always be part of the NFL, and that Goodell shouldn’t attempt to change that.
“The Pro Bowl was before his reign, it’ll be after his reign,” Scott said. “It’s not up to him, I believe, to cancel the Pro Bowl. It’s tradition. . . . It’s a part of the fabric of football,” Scott said. “It’s a day of celebration, for everybody to enjoy, for them to get their families out. They earned the right to be an All-Star.”
If players want to keep the right to be All-Stars, they shouldn’t turn the NFL’s version of the All-Star Game into a joke.