It's the battle of the league's best, or at least, it used to be. Now it's become a bit of an embarrassment. The NFL Pro Bowl was once a game you tuned in to the week after the Super Bowl to bid football farewell in the middle of winter before it returns next season. It was the best of the NFC vs the best of the AFC. Most of the time, there was no doubt about the players who had received the honor; they were the best to do it that season. 

Growing up in the 90's, there was one Packers player you could guarantee would be representing the NFC at the Pro Bowl. That was Reggie White. The Minister of Defense received an amazing 13 Pro Bowl elections in his career, six of them coming from each season he played for the Green Bay Packers. Pro Bowl elections for nearly every season of your career is no surprise for a player like White, whose number was retired by both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers before his eventual election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Back in Reggie White's era, when you look at Pro Bowl Quarterbacks, you see names like Brett Favre, Steve Young, Joe Montana, John Elway, Troy Aikman, and Dan Marino. Practically a Mt. Rushmore of some of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. Every player on the NFC or AFC side was likely the best of the best that season, and each of them would be trying to win the game despite its meaningless nature. Sure, players may not have hit as hard or pushed themselves 100%, but it was still a decent game to watch. Unless the players elected were injured, there was a good chance you'd see them in Honolulu, Hawaii. In today's NFL, not so much. 

Now, the game and the election process itself have become a bit of a joke. 

Amidst injury risk and players not wanting to give more than even 50% at times, let alone even attend, the NFL changed the Pro Bowl format to a flag football game in 2023. If that didn't make the game a punchline enough, it seems as if the election process is skewed more towards a popularity contest than a showing of who was the best that season. Despite the claim that the election process, which is 1/3 fan vote, 1/3 coach's vote, and 1/3 player vote, hasn't changed since 1995, many fans and players disagree. It's believed that fan vote may carry much more weight, and that the NFL places players in the game that they believe will garner more attention. 

And now in 2026, that conspiracy has gathered more weight.

Attention and Popularity over Accolades

On Monday, with Patriots QB Drake Maye, who was previously elected to the Pro Bowl now playing in the Super Bowl in two weeks, it was announced that Browns' rookie QB, Shedeur Sanders, would be taking his place in the Pro Bowl on the AFC side. Drake Maye undoubtedly earned his election as one of the best QBs of the 2025 season. But Shedeur Sanders, on the other hand, played in less than half the season and put up more interceptions than touchdowns. Not to mention, he only threw for 1400 yards. 

Jacksonville Jaguars QB, Trevor Lawrence, who threw for over 4,000 yards, 29 touchdowns, and only 12 interceptions in all 17 games, was far more deserving of the honor than Shedeur Sanders, but instead, Lawrence will be watching the game from home. 

To put a Packers' spin on it, Tuesday, CB Keisean Nixon was announced to be heading to the Pro Bowl. We're not going to say that Nixon had a terrible season, as he did flash at times. But there is a reason why some Packers' fans won't be sad to possibly see Nixon on a different roster next season. That's not something that is often said about a Pro Bowl-caliber player. Notoriously, back in 2012, then-Packers center Jeff Saturday was elected to the Pro Bowl despite being benched towards the end of the season in favor of Evan Dietrich-Smith. 

So, how do we fix this?

It stands to reason that the NFL may indeed be following their voting model and that fans, players, and coaches are just voting in droves for those more popular or recognizable players. But that's not to say the voting model is perfect. Normally, Pro Bowl voting begins at the end of November and lasts until December. Perhaps instead of placing a player from every team at every position amongst the voting options, they should only place the top players at each position in the voting. 

Perhaps split voting into two categories. The top-tier percentage of players at certain positions and the secondary tier. The top tier houses the top players, and the secondary tier houses those who are more in the middle. Pro Bowl elections are taken from the top tier, and then alternates are taken from those that didn't make it in the top tier, or if none of those players can go, they pull from the secondary tier. 

The process, as is, is far from perfect, let alone respected. Current and former players have become much more vocal about the Pro Bowl being meaningless, and that needs to change.