62-35 was the score?
Oh, so it wasn’t a very good basketball game?
Wait…football?
You’re joking, right?
No, that was the score of last year’s pro bowl game.

With watching the pro bowl last year I vowed that if something didn’t change I would never watch one again. The Pro Bowl this year however was the best I have ever seen and it was everything that I had hoped for.

From a sports fan, a football one in particular, I enjoy the idea of an “all star” type of game. I mean every major sport in America has one so it only seems fit that the NFL would have one.  Games that are supposed to show the best talent in that particular sport if not the world. The best of the best battling it out to be claimed as the best of the best. So, why when I turned on my television that dreadful night of last year’s Pro Bowl did I hear “hike” and watch in terror as the quarterback slowly walked back and took his time to loft the ball in the air as his offensive line is having a dinner date with their counterparts.  The pro bowl was nothing short of a joke last year. How did these guys get to this game in the first place? I know it wasn’t by lazily jogging around the field. You got there by putting up 120 yards on the ground with two touchdowns against a top 10 defense in the league. You got there by talking off the head of anyone who comes into your zone. So tell me why you’re making a mockery of the game and not even giving 50 percent. While last’s years game was a disappointment and embarrassing for the NFL, this year’s was great from the beginning to end.

One of the greatest things to happen to the NFL was the change in how the Pro Bowl was to be played. For those who don’t know in years previously players were selected by fans and then these players would play for their respective conference. This year was different though. The fans still picked the players who would get to play but hall of famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders selected who would play for them in a draft style selection. Anyone was fair game. No AFC vs NFC. Teammates playing against each other

With these new rules I was still a bit skeptical. Changing up the teams wouldn’t necessarily make the players play better. I watched with butterflies in my stomach as the first snap of the game commenced. To great surprise and delight I saw all four defensive linemen sprint for the quarterback.  I see Drew Brees step up in the pocket and fire a dart to Brandon Marshall. Although it was an incomplete pass I was intrigued. As the game progress I was not disappointed. Hard nose football being played against the league’s finest. I saw quarterbacks constantly under pressure and running backs working for extra yards. Both unheard of if you saw last years pro bowl.

With it all knotted up at 14 at the end of the second I realized that the NFL should have done this years before. Football has gained its popularity for its hard hits, phenomenal catches, and its last minute scoring drives.  As the clock ticked and the final second ran out the score ended 22-21 with a miss from 67 yards by Justin Tucker.  With the score aside I can say that the NFL did it right this time.

This is what I have been waiting for from a Pro Bowl.

It was a display of great competitors competing at a high level giving everything they have to entertain the very fans that put them there.  I know one thing is for sure, and I will definitely be tuning in next year for the Pro Bowl.