Pro Bowl is all %$@&'d up

I could be mistaken, but I don't think you actually have to play in the game to make those contract bonuses. You just have to be selected to the team. I know that each player gets paid for playing in the game, but it's not a big payout. A lot of those guys hang out in south Fla the entire offseason, so it's not nearly the same reward as a free trip to Hawaii.


And it's just a bad idea, in general. What if the weather is bad and they fuck up the field the week before the Super Bowl? It's just the NFL doing everything they can to get better ratings for the game and squeeze every drop of revenue out of this as they can.

 

I'm with BlacknBlue, I'm wondering about the no-shows also. I understand these million dollar athletes can go to Hawaii anytime they wish, but I think the trip to the islands with other players was probably a big incentive to come.

Question, yes each player gets paid for participating in the game, but do players still get contract bonuses for making the Pro Bowl if they decline to participate?

 

I'm fairly certain that players receive the bonus for making the team, not for actually playing in it.

They can afford a trip to Hawaii, but making the Pro Bowl means it's all paid for - the airfare, the hotel, etc. It's obviously still a huge reward regardless of how much money these guys make.

 

Through the first seven weeks of the season, Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young hadn't even completed a pass. Now he's a Pro Bowler.

Young, who became the Titans' starter in Week Eight and led the team from 0-6 to 8-8, was named to his second Pro Bowl today. He replaces Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who pulled out, citing an injury.

"I was working out when Coach [Jeff] Fisher called me and told me the news this afternoon," Young said today in a statement released by the team. "I was very excited to find out that I'm getting a chance to go play in the Pro Bowl. Thanks to all my teammates, coaches and fans that have supported me."

The AFC Pro Bowl quarterbacks were originally supposed to be Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Rivers. Then Brady pulled out, first alternate Ben Roethlisberger declined to participate, second alternate Matt Schaub took Brady's spot, and now Young, the third alternate, is taking Rivers' place.

So if Manning has to withdraw because the Colts go to the Super Bowl, Schaub will be the AFC's Pro Bowl starter, with Young and the fourth alternate (whose identity is not currently known) backing him up.

UPDATE: Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer was reportedly the third alternate, which would mean Young was actually the fourth alternate, and if the Colts go to the Super Bowl, the fifth alternate will be called to replace Manning.

 

Players may get some kinda bonus for making it, I don't know, but they don't get a win/loss game check if they don't go.

 

Maybe there will be enough NFC QBs to decline that Jake will make probowl?

 

he broke his hand, so he couldn't play in it anyway

 

Yeah, I was being sarcastic. Even if healthy, he'd probably need 15 other QBs to decline the invitation to make it.

 

15?!?!? Aren't you forgetting the backups?