Listen to Joe Thomas

The Cleveland Browns are 0-14 and have a very realistic shot at being just the second 0-16 team in NFL history.  Yet they've got a Pro Bowler and six other teams don't.  Not that Joe Thomas doesn't deserve to be there.  He's one of the best tackles in NFL history, and this is his 10th consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl.

So, I'm going to listen to Joe Thomas when he makes suggestions for how to improve the game.  Of course, there are a couple of obvious things that the NFL could do, but Mr. Brilliant Commissioner refuses to listen regarding those.  This year's game is in Orlando.  Not Hawaii.  That's where it should be.  Every year.  Like it used to be.  Just like the Pro Bowl should be moved back to the week after the Super Bowl so that the players from the two best teams in the league can, you know, actually participate.

Maybe if either (or both) of those things happened, the Pro Bowl would no longer suck.  At least they finally got over that stupid fantasy draft thing and went back to AFC vs. NFC.  I didn't like the make your own teams idea when the NHL did it, and I thought it was even dumber when the NFL adopted it, too.  Fortunately, it looks like that fad is finally over.

Thomas didn't suggest anything like that.  What he did suggest, though, is stuff the NFL really should consider.  Each of the other three leagues has some sort of skills event as part of its All-Star weekend, and those events (which always sell out) are as popular as the All-Star Games themselves.  But the NFL doesn't have an equivalent to the Home Run Derby, Slam Dunk Contest/3-Point Shootout or Skills Challenge.  And that's an area where they're really missing out.

They used to have the Quarterback Challenge as a part of the Pro Bowl festivities.  Of course, this was a made-for-TV event that included more than just the Pro Bowl quarterbacks and was edited to air at the start of the next season.  Then they did away with the Quarterback Challenge in favor of an event that included all of the Pro Bowlers.  That only lasted a couple of years before the NFL did away with it.  Since then there's been nothing (the "Pro Bowl Draft" or whatever that ridiculous thing was called doesn't count).

This is an opportunity that I'm surprised the NFL hasn't tried to seize.  I'm especially surprised that either ESPN (which airs the Pro Bowl) or NFL Network hasn't pushed for such an event.  And, honestly, I think fans would eat something like this up.  They're going to let fans watch guys lift weights at the combine (and you know they're going to sell out those tickets), but they can't think of a way to let fans watch actual NFL all-stars show off their skills in something other than the glorified flag football game that no one cares about and half the guys that are selected don't even bother showing up to?

When they announced that there was going to be a dodgeball tournament this year, I thought they finally got the memo and were on to something.  (No word on the TV network and announcers for the dodgeball game, but you can bet it'll probably be on ESPN8: The Ocho, with Cotton and Pepper calling the action.)  It's part of a whole "Skills Showdown," but the dodgeball tournament will be the clear highlight.

There will also be a timed relay race, a precision passing contest, and a "best hands" competition for quarterbacks and receivers.  But Thomas would like to see more, and, frankly, so would I.  This "Skills Showdown" has a chance to be really entertaining.  But only if it's done right.  And only if you can find a way to include everybody.

And, frankly, some of the things Thomas suggested aren't bad ideas.  Have the linemen throwing passes or, even better, have a tug-of-war between the linemen.  Instead of a relay, make it a fastest man competition between the wide receivers, defensive backs and return men.  Obviously working the kickers and punters in might be kinda tough, but they could do some kind of accuracy or trick shot or longest distance type of thing.  Maybe even a drop-kicking competition.

Keep the dodgeball game and bring back the Quarterback Challenge.  But add in some of this other stuff too.  Make it like the NHL Skills Challenge.  That could be really fun.  And it could be something that both the players and the fans would enjoy.  Isn't that the whole point?  And, who knows?  Maybe it would even give guys the incentive to actually show up for the Pro Bowl.

Listen to Joe Thomas.  He knows.