The 2024 NFL Pro Bowl is the second that will be a flag football game. The change from tackle football to flag football is the worst decision that the NFL has ever made about the Pro Bowl.

The main reason that the NFL made the switch from tackle to flag is because players were afraid of getting hurt.

In the history of the Pro Bowl, very few players have ever gotten injuries in the game. The only serious injury that has occurred in the Pro Bowl was Patriots running back Robert Edwards. 

Edwards received a debilitating knee injury at the 1999 Pro Bowl, although this was not in the actual game, it was in a beach flag football game that was a rookie pregame to the actual Pro Bowl.

In 2007, Drew Brees dislocated his non-throwing elbow during the actual Pro Bowl game; however, it did not affect the Saints’ season, or Brees’s career. The playoffs were already over, and Brees continued to have a very successful career.

Even with the switch from tackle to flag, injuries still occur. Last year, Miles Garrett suffered a dislocated toe while competing in the skills competition. This did not affect his team’s season, as they had already been eliminated from the playoffs.

If players are going to get hurt anyway, they might as well try to make the Pro Bowl a little more interesting for viewers and make it tackle football.

The whole point of having a Pro Bowl is to be interesting for the viewers. 

“I think it will attract less people since it’s flag, but I get the reasoning,” said sophomore Talei Williamson.

The 2024 Pro Bowl will be from Thursday, Feb. 1 until Sunday, Feb. 4 in the Camping World Stadium, in Orlando, Florida. You can watch it on ESPN, ABC, and NFL+.