CHANGING THE GAME

The NFL turns its annual Pro Bowl into multiple events this week in Las Vegas

BY CASE KEEFER

Las Vegas Raiders edge rusher

Maxx Crosby learned about the rugged physicality and macho mentality often needed for success at the highest levels of football from an early age growing up in Texas.

“Once you hit the second grade, you were allowed to start playing football, so you either played tackle or you played ag,” Crosby explained late this season. “If you played ag, we looked at you sideways. If you played tackle, you were about that action.”

The 25-year-old Crosby says he has never been a part of a game of ag football, but that will change February 5 at Allegiant Stadium. Crosby will be participating in his second straight Pro Bowl, which the NFL has now tweaked into the Pro Bowl Games, with three sets of 7-on-7 ag football games serving as the grand nale.

Crosby described it as “unfortunate” that the traditional, fully padded 11-on11 game has been scrapped, but ironically, he partly has himself to blame for the format change. Out of concern over injuries that could cut into their earning potential, players hadn’t given anywhere near full e ort in the Pro Bowl for a decade or more.

Crosby certainly didn’t go all-out in his debut at Allegiant last year, but he played hard enough to put into focus the way most of the other players were merely going through the motions. The Raider won the 2022 Pro Bowl MVP after contributing two sacks and three pass break-ups while leading the AFC to a 4135 victory against the NFC.

Crosby was cheered by the hometown fans, but everything else about the game was panned, expediting a shift in one of the NFL’s marquee annual events.

“You’ve seen some evolutionary parts of the concept in previous years as we brought the skills [competition] into the fold the last few years and looked to make game day more a bit accessible,” says Matthew Shapiro, the NFL’s vice president of events strategy. “And then, coming out of last year … we thought more seriously about how to reimagine this event and revamp it.”

Here’s a rundown of four of the big changes taking place, and how it will all work.

The Format

Rosters were determined in the usual way, with players, coaches and fans each getting a third of the say in awarding honorees at every position in the AFC and NFC. How the chosen players will be utilized has changed, however. Only 21 players from each 44-man roster will compete in the ag football games.

Exact lineups will be announced closer to the start, but expect to see the biggest-name skill players, such as Bu alo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Je erson and Raiders running back Josh Jacobs included. The rest will be on the sidelines cheering them on—and likely interacting with fans—after having their moment in the spotlight Thursday and Sunday, through a variety of skills competitions.

Three points will be up for grabs for the winning conference in a variety of contests (more on those later), with seven points awarded to the winning team in each of the rst two ag-football games.

It’s all to add drama to the nal ag game, in which the scoreboard will start with the cumulative score from all the other competitions. One nal 20-minute, 50-yard game—the same setup as for the rst two contests—will determine whether the AFC can run its Pro Bowl win streak over the NFC to six.

The Side Competitions

Not everything about the rst Pro Bowl week in Las Vegas a year ago was a bust. The most memorable moment might have come on opening night at Las Vegas Ballpark, when then-rookie Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons talked trash before shocking receiver Tyreek Hill (then with the Kansas City Chiefs), Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb and Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs in a 40-yard dash.

The NFL wants to play up those kinds of moments, so nine skills competitions will take place, from a Thursday night kicko event on ESPN at the Raiders’ Henderson headquarters to sideshows of Sunday’s ag games at Allegiant. A relay race returns Sunday, but it’s among the most straightforward o erings.

Other events include a dodgeball match (Thursday), a water balloon toss (Thursday), a best catch contest (Thursday and Sunday) and a kick-tactoe competition (Sunday).

The hope is that these type of lighthearted setups can showcase some of the NFL’s brightest and loudest stars, like Parsons, New York Jets rookie cornerback Sauce Gardner and New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley.

The Vibe

Another undeniable success from last year’s Pro Bowl in Las Vegas were the open practices at Las Vegas Ballpark. They gave fans a chance to catch many of their favorite athletes in a playful environment, snagging autographs from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, for example, before he razzed teammate Chris Jones as the latter tested out a putting green.

There’s no need for practices with the new format, but the NFL wanted to try to transition that atmosphere into the actual game.

“The Pro Bowl has had a lot of tremendous positives over the last number of years—the camaraderie amongst the players, the ability to see the players’ personalities for fans and the helmets-o mentality of the practices,” Shapiro said. “It provides a lot of access, but we felt like we could really take that to the next level.”

February 5, noon, $30$270. Allegiant Stadium, ticket master.com.