All I could think about while watching the Oscars this past Sunday was the NFL. Probably not the result the Academy expected, but it’s exactly what Roger Goodell and the NFL needs. They need creative minds to be thinking “Awards Show” not “Pro Bowl”.

The Oscars are to Hollywood what the Pro Bowl is to the NFL: an opportunity to recognize the key role players for their contributions during that particular year. When I saw Marion Cotillard, joined by other legendary Best Actress winners, Halle Berry, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine, remarking on what a rare talent Kate Winslet possesses as Kate fought back tears, I couldn’t help think how much I would love to see Shaun O’Hara of the New York Giants dab his eyes as Hall of Fame center Jim Langers stands on a stage talking about the perfect season he had with the 1972 Dolphins and how he envisions O’Hara making a similar impact on the game. Today’s players, some of whom might struggle to tell you who Jim Langers is, could benefit from a little rubbing of elbows with the greats of the past, as all this year’s Oscars winners had the opportunity to do.

As it stands now, the Pro Bowl game is a disaster waiting to become a tragedy, all with no one watching. Players love the vacation (Why is free stuff so alluring to those who don’t need it?) and the adulation but they hate the game.

What’s to love? There’s nothing on the line except the life and limb of each player. Players whose very careers depend on keeping those limbs intact. As soon as the Pro Bowl rosters are announced, the race to craft the most believable excuse for bailing is on for all but the freshman class. Veterans have spoken out about the honor of making the roster and the horror of playing the game. Just ask Drew Brees. He’ll give you all the gory details on his dislocated left elbow suffered during the 2007 Pro Bowl. His chance at the Limbo title was squashed as well.

It’s stunning that a brand as near-perfect as the NFL would willingly dilute itself by playing a dumbed-down and tamed version of a game that is respected for its complexity and aggressive-bordering-on-violent nature. It’s no surprise the Pro Bowl provides about as much entertainment value as reading a blacked-out, top secret CIA document. Yet, however canned and meaningless the game, people still can, and do, get hurt.

While the NBA makes household names out of their stars with a weekend celebrating the game and entertaining the fans, the NFL runs off to Hawaii and parties amongst itself. In all fairness, 18,487 fans did join them by traveling to Hawaii specifically to watch the 2009 Pro Bowl in person, so the fan was represented in a mid-term election sort of way. But even a network blackout in Hawaii due to poor attendance would have been met with little or no static. And here on the mainland there is certain to be at least one sports scandal stealing the thunder the Pro Bowl may have once had.

The Girls suggest taking the NFL event a few steps further…onto the red carpet.

Nothing has ever screamed “BANQUET!” louder than the NFL for player recognition. Yes, an end-of-year celebration of the game, the honorees and the season. A lavish affair afforded all the conventions of an awards ceremony you would expect from the most successful company within its business category: part banquet, part roast and part reminisce. Those ‘employees’ selected as tops in their position need only risk cat calls as they don tuxedos, learn the pronunciation of the designer’s name, dress their lady and take it to Broadway. Under the bright lights of the Big Apple, with fans lining the streets, players will become men - without the pads. Men with faces. Men with personalities. Men who are more than ‘products’ from such-and-such university. Men who played with passion all year, and now get to sit back and enjoy an evening of celebration in their honor.

We could go on…and we will as we kick-off our campaign to right the wrong that is the NFL Pro-Bowl. Commissioner Goodell, this is your fair warning. We hope to see you in the “kiss and cry” area in 2011.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 12:24 am and is filed under Fantoo Blog Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.