When former NFL commissioner Bert Bell introduced the Pro Bowl to the world in 1950 (debuting in January 1951), he had a vision to get the players of that era more money. But after watching it be tweaked into “Pro Bowl Games” in 2023, and now being completely ended by the present NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell & Co., it has drawn ire from the inventor’s son, Upton Bell.

“My father Commissioner Bert Bell invented the Pro Bowl to get the players of the 50’s more money,” Upton wrote on X. “He did not intend it to continue after the NFL became successful. The Game went on entirely too long and became a joke of Flag Football.

“It’s called NFL Greed,” he continued in a subsequent post.

According to Upton Bell, his father never intended to be a permanent tradition once the league achieved financial success. Currently, the 32 NFL teams have a combined collective worth of $299 billion, per the latest Sportico NFL Franchise Valuations.

Yet, the traditions carried on year on year. However, it did undergo a structural/format change. The original Pro Bowl format from 1951 was a highly competitive, full-contact tackle football game played after the season ended.

In stark contrast, recent formats shifted to a non-contact multi-day “Games” setup (2023–2026) featuring flag football and skills challenges. This also became one of the reasons behind the scrapping of the Pro Bowl Games.

“I think we’ve been focused on the game. You’ve heard me say it for many years about the quality of the game in the Pro Bowl. I don’t think it’s up to NFL standards,” Goodell said in a statement. “And that’s why we changed to the flag game several years ago. So I’m not sure the last time you want to say we played a game in a football sense.”

In recent years, dozens of top players skipped the event (Josh Allen in 2023) due to injuries, contractual opt-outs, or Super Bowl appearances (since the game takes place during the Super Bowl week).

This forced Roger Goodell & Co. to name low-tier alternates, which severely diluted the historical meaning of a “Pro Bowl” nod. Other than that, the moment full-contact football was removed in 2022, many players did not want to risk injury in a meaningless exhibition.

However, moving forward, the Pro Bowl is transitioning into an individual performance award, where the league will still name 88 top players (44 from the AFC and 44 from the NFC) to the official Pro Bowl class in late December.

But to protect the integrity and prestige of the award, Goodell & Co. has banned replacement selections. This means that if an original selection cannot attend due to injuries or playing in the Super Bowl, no alternate will take their place on the roster.

Instead of playing a game, the selected 88 players will be invited to an exclusive in-person celebration in Los Angeles during February’s Super Bowl week.