Roger Goodell Explains Why Pro Bowl Will Be Eliminated, Game is Not 'Up to NFL standards'

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell explained why the Pro Bowl will no longer be played moving forward.

"I think we've been focused on the game," Goodell said Wednesday, per Mark Maske of Front Office Sports. "You've heard me say it for many years about the quality of the game in the Pro Bowl. I don't think it's up to NFL standards. And that's why we changed to the flag game several years ago. So I'm not sure the last time you want to say we played a game in a football sense. So I think this is something that we talked to our players about, the Pro Bowl players in particular. We had conference calls the last couple years: What's working? What's not? What would you like to see? And the number one thing that came out—and there were a lot of wonderful comments by the players—one is: 'We want to be honored and celebrated as a Pro Bowl player.'… It just opened my eyes. I never really thought about it in the context of that."

"It's not honoring the replacement players," he added. "It's honoring the guys who are selected by the fans, by the players, by the coaches. And so that was really the core of it, is: How do we do this in the right way? And our players, you know, they did what they normally do. They had great recommendations on how to do that. And second, a willingness to lead that the all-star format doesn't really work for our game…. It's something that we felt strongly about. And I think our players, they deserve to be celebrated when they get the Pro Bowl honor."

On Wednesday, NFL executives presented team owners with the future of the Pro Bowl that doesn't include any game or competition.

According to Jonathan Jones of The Athletic, 88 players will be selected for the Pro Bowl with no alternates following the update. Pro Bowlers will now receive an invitation to Los Angeles for an in-person celebration in February rather than participating in a game.

The Pro Bowl format was changed multiple times prior to its elimination, switching from a traditional game to days of skills challenges that culminated in a flag football contest in 2023.

Now, the Pro Bowl will only exist as an individual performance honor that players can earn.