Goodell said the Pro Bowl could be eliminated. (Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

INDIANAPOLIS -- Last Sunday's Pro Bowl was a sloppily-played joke of a game that was ripped by fans and the media. Aaron Rodgers came out and said some of his NFC teammates should be "embarrassed" by the way they played. LeSean McCoy told us that he was "one of those guys" who didn't try.

Which may explain why Roger Goodell said on Sunday morning that the NFL is "considering eliminating" the Pro Bowl.

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"I really didn't think that was the kind of football that we want to be demonstrating for our fans," Goodell said on Mike and Mike Sunday morning. "And you heard it from the fans. The fans were actively booing in the stands. They didn't like what they were seeing."

At the very least, Goodell said, something's going to change or the game will go away.

"We're either going to have to improve the quality of what we're doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even considering eliminating the game if that's the kind of quality game we're going to provide," Goodell said. "I know players love to be in Hawaii but we have to start with the quality of what we're doing.

"If the fans are responding negatively to what we're doing, we better listen. And that was my message."

Say whatever you want about Goodell (and if you're a Steelers fan, you'll probably say a lot), but the guy knows how to make the game of football more popular. If getting rid of the Pro Bowl does that, then Goodell won't hesitate to do so.

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By Will Brinson

INDIANAPOLIS -- LeSean McCoy had a heck of a season in 2011, rushing for 1,309 yards and 17 touchdowns. It netted him the FedEx Ground Player of the Year on Wednesday at the Super Bowl. And it also landed him a trip to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.

While there, McCoy was on the NFC team that Aaron Rodgers believes should be "embarrassed" by a lack of effort. Actually, he was "one of those guys" that didn't try, and said so himself on Wednesday.

"Yeah? I'm one of those guys," McCoy said when asked about Rodgers comments. "You walk around every practice and the guys before the games on other teams are like 'take your time' because we're going on a very slow pace, very easy.

"And you get out there and you see guys half-doing it and you do the same thing."

It's not like this should be too big a surprise: the quality of the game is directly related to the intensity of the effort when it comes to the Pro Bowl, and that's exactly why it was a sloppy boring game that drew criticism from everyone remotely involved in the process. (That the game still managed to pull big ratings should tell you exactly how popular the NFL is.)

With all the complaints from fans and the media -- and some players -- it wouldn't be surprising to find out that McCoy's comments didn't sit well with the league, even if he is just talking about an All-Star Game.

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By Josh Katzowitz

The Pro Bowl, as we all know, is a joke.

We tried making some suggestions last year (um, hello, running clock?!?), and this year, we described why the changes the NFL did make didn’t improve the quality of the game.

Not only do we see this game as an exercise in irrelevance, mostly because the players’ effort is lacking, but apparently so does Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

During his regular appearance on ESPN Milwaukee, Rodgers said  the NFC players “embarrassed themselves” during the game last Sunday. He also said he was "disappointed in the lack of pride.”

Said Rodgers: “I feel like there should be some pride involved in a game like that, and I was just surprised by some of the efforts of some of the guys. This was my second Pro Bowl. (I) played in the one in 2010. It was down in Fort Lauderdale/Miami. I felt that that one had a lot more energy.

“The AFC side obviously had more energy. I think they were upset about the second onside kick (called by Packers coach Mike McCarthy), and at that point they played a lot harder than we did. But even in the early going, they were playing definitely harder than we were.”

Obviously, there’s no reason for the Pro Bowl selections to go all out and risk injury, and the NFL enforces special rules in the game to decrease those chances as well. But when the defensive linemen are basically shaking hands with the offensive linemen each time the ball is snapped and when would-be-tacklers let ball-rushers run right by them for touchdowns, you have to ask yourself, what’s the point of watching this?

And maybe now Rodgers is asking himself, what’s the point of playing?

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By Josh Katzowitz

A couple new exciting (!) features this season were supposed to make this year’s Pro Bowl slightly more palatable. It didn’t exactly work.

The first change was to make it a more financially-sound decision for the players to give an effort by rewarding the winning players with $50,000 and the losers a paltry $25,000.*

So, how’d that work out? Well, look at the tweet from Bears radio sideline reporter @ZachZaidman, who tweeted the following in the first quarter: “I'd rather watch players in the Pro Bowl tweet about playing in the Pro Bowl than watch them play in the Pro Bowl.”

Indeed, most of the effort given in Hawaii was rather, um, lacking. Which is totally understandable and to be expected. There’s no sense in badly injuring yourself in order to triumph in a glorified All Star game. So, no matter the monetary incentive, an extra $25,000 isn’t going to make the risk/reward ratio any different.

* For the record, this is similar to what Will Brinson proposed last year when he wrote the NFL should make it a winner-take-all event.

“Make it winner-take-all so that each player's legitimately motivated to win the game and make the Pro Bowl competitive,” Will wrote.

Heck of an idea by Will and the NFL. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

The second change, though, really could have been interesting. Well, as interesting as anything else the Pro Bowl could offer.

The NFL relaxed its in-game tweeting prohibition and actually set up computer stations on the sideline so players could instantly translate their in-game ramblings into 140-word thoughts. It was, um, not so exciting.

Or as the Newark Star Ledger’s @StevePoliti tweeted, “Tweeting stations. I turned on the Pro Bowl, and they're talking about tweeting stations."

Here’s a sampling of what entered our feed during the game.

@MillerLite40 (Von Miller): first series was great!!! it was an honor just to be on the field with all the guys!!!! #gigem #probowl

@ajgreen_18 (A.J. Green): first pro bowl TD!!! blessed!! #probowl

@GregJennings: Having a blast out here... bout to go out on O to catch some more passes!!

@ericweddle1: Truly blessed to be here! Such a amazing atmosphere #GREATFUL

To sum it all up, here’s “Late Show with David Letterman” (#onCBS!) head writer Eric Stangel, who penned the following, “Remember everyone, with the #ProBowl, this year- it counts! And by "counts" I mean is a complete waste of everyone's time."

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By Josh Katzowitz

Now that the Patriots and Giants officially are heading to Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI, that means nobody from New England and New York will be flying to Honolulu this week for the Pro Bowl.

Which means we get tons of additions and deletions to the roster!

Here’s the list so far.

-Panthers standout rookie quarterback Cam Newton will replace Eli Manning on the NFC roster. As you well know, Newton threw for 4,051 yards passing, the most ever by a rookie quarterback in NFL history while recording 21 touchdowns and posting an 84.5 quarterback rating. Newton also rushed for 14 scores, the most ever by an NFL quarterback.

-Bears defensive end Julius Peppers will take over for New York’s Jason Pierre-Paul. This is Peppers’ seventh Pro Bowl appearance, and it’s the first time since Richard Dent in the mid-1980s that a Chicago defensive end has made the roster in back-to-back seasons.

-Jets guard Brandon Moore will replace New England’s Brian Waters on the AFC roster. This is Moore’s first Pro Bowl selection. Ravens guard Ben Grubbs will take over for Logan Mankins.

-Bad news for Tim Tebow. According to Pro Football Talk, Ben Roethlisberger “definitely” is attending the Pro Bowl festivities, meaning Tebow, the second alternate, will be staying home this week (and maybe going on tour with Brad Paisley instead).

-As the Cincinnati Enquirer reports, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton replaces Tom Brady, tight end Jermaine Gresham replaces Rob Gronkowski and defensive tackle Geno Atkins replaces Vince Wilfork.

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By Josh Katzowitz

OK, see if this makes sense.

Bears running back Matt Forte was placed on injured reserve this season after injuring his knee on Dec. 3, and already obviously displeased with the way Chicago hadn’t given him the contract extension he so dearly wanted, he said he wouldn’t return to play unless he was 100 percent.

“I'm not going to rush to get back on the field and play while I'm hurt, because (if) you're not at 100 percent you may injure it even more if you do that,” Forte said then.

Right, that’s fine. Smart even. If the Bears won’t pay him what he feels he deserves, there’s no sense in Forte possibly hurting himself again if he’s not completely healthy.

But Thursday the Bears announced Forte had passed his physical and had cleared him to play in the Pro Bowl. It sounds like that’s exactly what Forte will do.

And all I can think is: why? Why would he risk getting injured again as he moves into free agency?  Yeah, the Bears very well could place the franchise tag on him, but I’m betting they won’t if he tears his ACL during the game (hey, Robert Edwards effectively ended his career during that week of celebration).

Is he, as one Twitter follower suggested, simply flipping the bird to the Bears? If that’s the case, it seems like an awfully big risk for a few minutes of pleasure. Not sure I understand.

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By Josh Katzowitz

As selected by the players, coaches and fans (all accounted for 1/3 of the final tally), here are this year's AFC and NFC Pro Bowl teams. The game will be played in Hawaii on Jan. 29, 2012, and though this roster most likely will turn over a few times (and alternatives will be added to the list to fill out the roster), it's still an honor for anybody's name to be included on this list.

AFC

Offense

Player	Team	Position
Tom Brady	Patriots	QB
Ben Roethlisberger	Steelers	QB
Philip Rivers	Chargers	QB
Ray Rice	Ravens	RB
Maurice Jones-Drew	Jaguars	RB
Arian Foster	Texans	RB
Vonta Leach	Ravens	FB
Wes Welker	Patriots	WR
Mike Wallace	Steelers	WR
A.J. Green	Bengals	WR
Brandon Marshall	Dolphins	WR
Rob Gronkowski	Patriots	TE
Antonio Gates	Chargers	TE
Joe Thomas	Browns	T
Jake Long	Dolphins	T
D'Brickashaw Ferguson	Jets	T
Logan Mankins	Patriots	G
Brian Waters	Patriots	G
Marshal Yanda	Ravens	G
Maurkice Pouncey	Steelers	C
Nick Mangold	Jets	C
Shane Lechler	Raiders	P
Sebastian Janikowski	Raiders	PK
Antonio Brown	Steelers	KR
Matthew Slater	Patriots	ST

Defense

Player	Team	Position
Dwight Freeney	Colts	DL
Andre Carter	Patriots	DL
Elvis Dumervil	Broncos	DL
Haloti Ngata	Ravens	DL
Vince Wilfork	Patriots	DL
Richard Seymour	Raiders	DL
Terrell Suggs	Ravens	LB
Von Miller	Broncos	LB
Tamba Hali	Chiefs	LB
Ray Lewis	Ravens	LB
Derrick Johnson	Chiefs	LB
Darrelle Revis	Jets	CB
Champ Bailey	Broncos	CB
Johnathan Joseph	Texans	CB
Ed Reed	Ravens	S
Eric Weddle	Chargers	S
Troy Polamalu	Steelers	S

NFC

Offense

Player	Team	Position
Aaron Rodgers	Packers	QB
Drew Brees	Saints	QB
Eli Manning	Giants	QB
LeSean McCoy	Eagles	RB
Matt Forte	Bears	RB
Frank Gore	49ers	RB
Calvin Johnson	Lions	WR
Larry Fitzgerald	Cardinals	WR
Steve Smith	Panthers	WR
Greg Jennings	Packers	WR
Tony Gonzalez	Falcons	TE
Jimmy Graham	Saints	TE
Jason Peters	Eagles	T
Jermon Bushrod	Saints	T
Joe Staley	49ers	T
Jahri Evans	Saints	G
Carl Nicks	Saints	G
Davin Joseph	Buccaneers	G
Ryan Kalil	Panthers	C
Scott Wells	Panthers	C
John Kuhn	Packers	FB
Andy Lee	49ers	P
David Akers	49ers	PK
Patrick Peterson	Cardinals	KR
Corey Graham	Bears	ST

Defense

Player	Team	Position
Jared Allen	Vikings	DL
Jason Babin	Eagles	DL
Jason Pierre-Paul	Giants	DL
Justin Smith	49ers	DL
Jay Ratliff	Cowboys	DL
B.J. Raji	Packers	DL
DeMarcus Ware	Cowboys	DL
Clay Matthews	Packers	LB
Patrick Willis	49ers	LB
Brian Urlacher	Bears	LB
Charles Woodson	Packers	CB
Carlos Rogers	49ers	CB
Charles Tillman	Bears	CB
Earl Thomas	Seahawks	S
Dashon Goldson	49ers	S
Adrian Wilson	Cardinals	S

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Aaron Rodgers led the way in all Pro Bowl voting.(Getty Images)

By Will Brinson

We've wondered whether or not Tim Tebow is a Pro-Bowl candidate before this year and the answer is probably "no." But that doesn't matter when it comes to Pro-Bowl voting, where Tebow was the third-highest vote getter among AFC quarterbacks.

Aaron Rodgers, named the Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year on Wednesday, was the top vote-getter among all NFL players, pulling in 1,581,982 votes from fans. Tom Brady was second among all NFL players with 1,454,311 votes. Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski joined Brady in the top 10, via NFL.com:

Top-10 Pro Bowl Vote Getters
Player	Position	Team	Votes
Aaron Rodgers	QB	Packers	1,581,982
Tom Brady	QB	Patriots	1,454,311
Drew Brees	QB	Saints	1,188,893
Calvin Johnson	WR	Lions	1,180,777
Wes Welker	WR	Patriots	1,133,787
LeSean McCoy	RB	Eagles	962,824
Rob Gronkowski	TE	Patriots	936,886
Ben Roethlisberger	QB	Steelers	935,535
Adrian Peterson	RB	Vikings	925,554
Mike Wallace	WR	Steelers	923,073

So, yeah, breaking: the Patriots and Steelers are popular! Also popular? Tebow.

AFC Pro Bowl Leaders by Position
Offense				Defense
Player	Pos	Team	Votes	Player	Pos	Team	Votes
Tom Brady	QB	Patriots	1,454,311	Andre Carter	DE	Patriots	511,693
Arian Foster	RB	Texans	896,804	Haloti Ngata	DT	Ravens	592,603
Vonta Leach	FB	Ravens	149,801	Terrell Suggs	OLB	Ravens	546,851
Wes Welker	WR	Patriots	1,133,787	Ray Lewis	MLB	Ravens	413,222
Rob Gronkowski	TE	Patriots	936,886	Darrelle Revis	CB	Jets	561,986
Michael Oher	OT	Ravens	327,644	Troy Polamalu	SS	Steelers	230,649
Logan Mankins	G	Patriots	337,844	Ed Reed	FS	Ravens	198,075
Maurkice Pouncey	C	Steelers	376,457	Shane Lechler	P	Raiders	228,782
Sebastian Janikowski	K	Raiders	244,512	Joe McKnight	KR	Jets	140,926

Once again, I'll point out that the Ravens and Patriots are popular (and also good at what they do), along with the Steelers. Brendon Ayanbadejo was the leading "special teams" vote-getter, with 106,515. On the NFC side, well, I hope you like the Packers:

NFC Pro Bowl Leaders by Position
Offense				Defense
Player	Pos	Team	Votes	Player	Pos	Team	Votes
Aaron Rodgers	QB	Packers	1,581,982	Jared Allen	DE	Vikings	784,527
LeSean McCoy	RB	Eagles	962,824	Justin Smith	DT	49ers	525,578
John Kuhn	FB	Packers	322,260	DeMarcus Ware	OLB	Cowboys	581,554
Calvin Johnson	WR	Lions	1,180,777	Patrick Willis	MLB	49ers	581,554
Jimmy Graham	TE	Saints	725,612	Charles Woodson	CB	Packers	763,198
Chad Clifton	OT	Packers	392,106	Roman Harper	SS	Saints	147,542
T.J. Lang	G	Packers	327,740	Morgan Burnett	FS	Packers	223,292
Scott Wells	C	Packers	436,693	Andy Lee	P	49ers	161,812
Mason Crosby	K	Packers	184,665	Devin Hester	KR	Bears	268,293

For the NFC, Jarrett Bush of the Packers received the most special teams votes with 134,696. (And yes, I suppose I could have kick returners on the offense side, but I'm not trying to have my tables be all uneven. Oh no I'm not.)

Naturally, none of this means any of these guys are guaranteed to make the Pro Bowl -- the fan vote only counts as one-third of the total. The players vote is worth two-thirds. But there's a good chance that many of these guys will end up in the Pro Bowl.

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