Will the Senior Bowl replace the Pro Bowl?

While the NFL decides what to do with the Pro Bowl, several ideas have been floated around. One is to move a college all-star game onto the NFL schedule as a possible kick-off to the NFL Draft season.

Following the 2012 Pro Bowl, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the players need to fix the Pro Bowl on their own or the league could alter the game or eliminate it all together. The NFL is concerned that the poor performance of players during the Pro Bowl could cause some marketing problems. NFL executive Eric Grubman is wary of the fact the all-stars don’t play at their best in a game like this:

“What works about it is there’s recognition of great players, the players enjoy it, the fans enjoy it, and it gives people an opportunity to focus on football for a week when there wouldn’t be anything. ... What’s not working is the players, for their own reasons, have not put on a true NFL quality game. We understand their logic, but there’s no getting around it -- it’s not an NFL game.”

Using an existing college football all-star game, most likely the Senior Bowl, could help to bridge that gap by putting NFL prospects on a bigger stage. However, the main roadblock in using the Senior Bowl would be NCAA rules and regulations.