The NFL announced on Tuesday that the annual Pro Bowl will be receiving a much-needed facelift, and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was quick to voice his approval for the new concept. Instead of traditional tackle football which has historically been played in the event, the league is planning to pivot to a skills-challenge-based competition with a seven-on-seven flag football being the main draw.
Stafford was featured by the NFL in a tweet as a vocal supporter of the change:
Flag Football at the 2023 Pro Bowl Games. Matthew Stafford’s here for it.https://t.co/2qMXXqJTFg pic.twitter.com/kGeu0YuowO
— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2022
If the Pro Bowl is to become the institution it once was in the football landscape, drastic changes like the ones laid out on Tuesday will continue to be necessary to assure that fans get a product they should look forward to every season. In years past, the NFL has attempted to rejuvenate the affair with a fantasy draft undertaken by two team captains, but because the on-field product is generally unserious, there hasn’t been much intrigue in quite some time.
For his part, Stafford was a Pro Bowl selection in 2014 as a member of the Detroit Lions and is still seeking a second election to be one of the NFC’s representatives. His gunslinging mentality would be a perfect fit for the fast-paced seven-on-seven game, and with receiver Cooper Kupp almost certain to be a selection in 2023, Stafford may be able to put on a show in the lead-up to the Super Bowl.
That is, however, to assume that Los Angeles will not make it back into the league championship game at the end of the season. Given the way that Stafford and the offense have been clicking early in 2022, it wouldn’t be out of the question for the team to earn their shot at back-to-back titles, though historically the odds are stacked against them.
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