Calvin Johnson Records One Catch In 2011 NFL Pro Bowl
by Sean Yuille on Jan 31, 2011 11:48 AM EST
in Detroit Lions News
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PrintThe 2011 NFL Pro Bowl was played yesterday out in Hawaii. Actually, a more accurate description would be to say that the 2011 NFL Pro Bowl was held yesterday and the players went through the motions. I don't know if you can say they actually played when linemen were standing around right after the snap and tackle attempts would make flag football players laugh. The game was a joke in more ways than one, and the NFC ended up beating the AFC in this exhibition by a ridiculous score of 55-41.
Calvin Johnson, the only Lions player to actually suit up for the game since Ndamukong Suh was out due to shoulder surgery, had one catch for 11 yards during the Pro Bowl. He was targeted four times, including once on a bomb from Michael Vick on the opening play of the game. It was at that point that I turned the game off, so I can't really tell you much about what else happened with Johnson other than what I found in the boxscore.
To say that I couldn't care less about the Pro Bowl would be an understatement. Often times during the regular season I will watch games that turn out to be pretty crappy (e.g. the Monday Night Football game with the Jaguars and Titans), but I just had no interest in wasting my time with the Pro Bowl. All-star games are always going to include guys not putting in their best effort (except maybe the MLB All-Star Game), but during the Pro Bowl players were literally just standing around. I suppose somebody could argue that the NHL All-Star Game, which was also played yesterday, isn't much different when it comes to effort or quality of play, but at least that was interesting to watch, especially with the fantasy draft leading up to it. The Pro Bowl, on the other hand, would have put me to sleep if I didn't find something else to do.
I don't expect the players to go out there and try hard by any means, and I wouldn't want them going all out and risking injury, so I don't blame them. The problem is with even having the game. Being voted in is a big honor for players and earning a trip to Hawaii is pretty cool, but they have no incentive to make this game even remotely watchable. If it were up to me I would just scrap the Pro Bowl altogether and do away with playing an all-star game that nobody cares about, but that's just me. Maybe others enjoy watching no defense and lots of scoring, but it's tough for me to care about a meaningless, uninteresting game like the Pro Bowl.
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100% agree
The Pro bowl is a joke. They should just vote the guys in and give them a plaque.
And Vick underthrew Calvin on that first play. That was a touchdown all the way if he got enough air under it.
"My Mama once told me don't argue with fools, cause people from a distance can't tell who is who" - Jay Z
It was such a lack of trust.
Made me kind of angry. You’re playing with the most physically elite receiver (since Moss has lost a step in his later years) in the league, and you’re throwing to him like he’s some scrub Roddy White or Fitzgerald kind of player.
As long as it generates enough TV and ticket revenue to fly everybody out there and run the game
they’ll keep playing it.
Hey that's a timeout, I can play right? yeah, get me--get the F-- Help me up...I can throw the ball if you need me to throw the ball...
True
I doubt the ticket sales make it worthwhile, but they probably get it paid for and then some with the TV contract.
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by Sean Yuille on Jan 31, 2011 12:04 PM EST up reply actions
The state of Hawaii
Also pays the NFL 4 million to have the game there.
I like Wins, Cheese and I also Like Cookies. If you don't. Wow. :P
Did not know that
I guess that also makes it worthwhile.
Pride of Detroit, for Lions fans | SB Nation Detroit, for Detroit-area sports fans
by Sean Yuille on Jan 31, 2011 12:35 PM EST up reply actions
They make it back.
In local economy boost. All the hotel rooms, flying out families, restaurants, souvenirs, boat rentals, etc.
oh of course
Just commenting on the way the NFL makes money on the game.
Hawaii no doubt see residual benefits from the game being there also. People that visit for the game probably return for vacations. People watching the game on TV want to visit there… bla bla
I like Wins, Cheese and I also Like Cookies. If you don't. Wow. :P
Yeah.
Apparently Roddy White flew out every other Atlanta receiver to Hawai’i for the games, on his tab.
Reggie Wayne did the same with Colts WRs too
Pride of Detroit, for Lions fans | SB Nation Detroit, for Detroit-area sports fans
I heard that EJ Henderson of the Vikings took some of his fellow LBs out to the game too.
Then, after he arrived, the player he was subbing for [J. Vilma] said he could play and Henderson did not get to play.
He did receive a winners share [$45K] for his trouble so at least he was not out of pocket much for his generosity to his teammates.
LOL
So whats Calvins problem? Can’t get Nate a ticket huh
"Show me someone with an offseason and I'll show you someone in last place"- Ndamukong Suh
Agreed
The game sucked and i hate Matt Ryan even more now. CJ was looked over so many times in the game the only one that had a clue was Jay G., i thought that CJ was going to have a helly game. Go Blue that’s 2 in a row.
BOBBY " BOUCHER " CARPENTER for PRESIDENT...
P.C.P IS AN ADDICTION, GET HOOKED.
yeah, Ryan pretty much only threw to his guys
i cant believe vick underthrew him as bad as he did. should have been a TD on the first play
I'm guessing it's not a la carte
I believe that the Pro Bowl is part of the TV broadcasting deal the league negotiates with whichever network has rights to the SuperBowl.
In other words, the network probably knows it can’t make much (if any) money broadcasting the Pro Bowl, but the NFL forces the issue by making it part of the “package” of broadcasting the Super Bowl, too.
Like when you get cable or satellite service. You can’t pick just the channels you actually care about. You have to buy a package and end up supporting channels you don’t care anything about.
by Big Z in Orlando on Jan 31, 2011 5:24 PM EST up reply actions
I've heard a couple of ideas...
on how to make the pro bowl better, and I think mixing some together is the best solution. First off, there would be no game. Then I think the pro bowl should be played at the sight of that years Super Bowl, to add to the festivities, and in that scenario, the players from teams in the Super Bowl can participate. There should be some kind of banquet, in which those voted into the Pro Bowl would accept the honor in front of the media/peers. Other awards could then be announced, such as DROY, OROY, offensive MVP, defensive MVP, and league MVP. This would e done on Saturday the weekend before the Super Bowl. The next day (Sunday prior to SB) there could be a skills competition type of event in place of the game.
I like all of this
Except I think it would be hard to get players in the Super Bowl to participate in the Pro Bowl, unless the Pro Bowl took place after the Super Bowl. Too high a risk for injuries. That could have been what you meant. But I like the idea of tying it in with the Super Bowl (same stadium, same weekend, etc.).
Who's gonna want to play a pro-bowl in Minnesota?
Or whatever crappy city it could end up in. (I know Minnesota isn’t going to happen, just an example) Having it in Hawaii is what actually gets the big named guys to show up at all.
big name players...
go to the Super Bowl because it’s the Super Bowl. Not to mention, it would be more of an awards ceremony, so they would go to receive the honor. The Super Bowl players probably wouldn’t participate in the actual events, as they would have to practice/prepare for the big game, but more the ceremony.
by lions_sucker on Jan 31, 2011 1:41 PM EST up reply actions
I actually watched most of the game and
It was mostly entertaining, certainly not a great technical game though. It was fun watching the players just having a good time instead of the out to hit as hard as u can seriousness of normal games. I’m willing to bet the players enjoy playing a light hearted game as well. It was great to hear other players talking up the lions and Calvin specifically.
I concur.
It was nice to see players from all over the league smiling and having a good time playing the game. Why so serious, fans?
I like watching guys make a play and the other team patting them on the back, and actually helping people up regardless of whether they’re NFC/AFC. Good sportsmanship and camaraderie out there.
there was a lot of
talk about the LIons and CJ during the game from commentators and players. Granted Terry Bradshaw was the one giving the Lions the most praise. tell you what thoygh if Stafford stays healthy next year and makes it to probowl it will be the CJ show like this one was the Ryan and White/Gonzales show. but yeah sean it is a worthless game and not that interesting of a game to watch. to be a DL man in this game has got to suck big time. I’d rather wath these guys play Flag football for the probowl
The talk
About the Lions and Calvin during the game was what made it worth it for me while I was watching. I also don’t go into it expecting to watch a “good” game in the traditional sense and I have never been 100% focused on the pro bowl when i have it on, so it doesn’t bother me that the players aren’t very competitive.
Matt Ryan
Glad I wasn’t the only one that noticed that Matt Ryan targeted Falcon players most of the time. For a while there every pass was to either Roddy White or Gonzalez. If it wasn’t a pass it was a hand off to Michael Turner. It was getting really boring at that point.
LITTLE MAN IN BACKFIELD! LITTLE MAN IN BACKFIELD! GO STEFAN LOGAN!
Yeah,
I get sick of seeing a batch of players from the same team out there at the same time. I understand that the qb is going to be inclined to focus on the guys he’s familiar with, but it gets old for the viewers.
At one time during the game, the starting lineup at skill positions consisted of a Falcons QB, HB, FB, TE, and WR. It kind of takes away the allure of the concept of the game for me.
Exactly
That was always my favorite part of the probowl. I loved watching the skills competitions. Especially the kicking contests. They need to bring those back and make them more a part of the coverage. Less game and more skill challenges.
LITTLE MAN IN BACKFIELD! LITTLE MAN IN BACKFIELD! GO STEFAN LOGAN!
I'm another one of the bandwagon....
of doing away with the actual game. I think the acknowledgment of it a great thing, but the actual game itself is less than entertaining to say the least. The other facet is the whole alternates thing. By the time the game rolls around… especially if they keep playing it BEFORE the Super Bowl, more than half the players are alternates anyway. In other words, players that didn’t or shouldn’t have actually MADE the roster.
I’d rather take a “keep it simple, stupid” approach to this and just select a certain number of the best players and then don’t play a game. I doubt they’ll adopt that approach though. As in everything else, if it generates money, it sticks around.
You mean to tell me the NFC wasn't trying on this play?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T27F0ceumY4
I'm so ahead of my time, my parents haven't met yet
I think it's fun for the players
To be selected to play in the pro-bowl, and go over to Hawaii and just fuck around in a no-pressure game for once. It was kind of like watching the Harlem Globetrotters. Of course it’s not a real game, but it’s still entertaining to just see the players go out there and have a good time.
"Shoulda-Coulda-Woulda"
by Lions & Panthers Fan on Jan 31, 2011 12:56 PM EST reply actions
LMAO at the guile music!
Life is being on the wire, everything else is just waiting.
by I'mOpen,Matt!! on Jan 31, 2011 1:33 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
They should award fantasy points in the Pro Bowl, redeemable for 8th and 9th-round draft choices.
Split the points among all players on the field for any play (to make it fair for the o-linemen who don’t score points),
then award some 64 8th and 9th-round draft choices to the teams.
So, if the NFC team completes a 30-yard TD pass, and that’s 1 point for the QB passing yards + 6 points for the WR receiving yards + 4 points for the QB TD pass + 6 points for the WR TD catch = 17 points for that play.
Split up the points, and that’s 1.545points for each NFC player on the field on that particular play.
At the end of the game, total up all the points, divide by 64, and that’s how many points it costs to make an 8th or 9th-round pick. Each NFL team is awarded the sum point total of all of its Pro Bowl players from all the plays on which they were on the field when their conference scored fantasy points.
In the draft, let teams pick in order of most fantasy points to fewest. If a team has less than 1/64th of the total points, then they don’t get any 8th or 9th-round picks, and the draft order cycles around back to the teams that bring the most fantasy points from the Pro Bowl again.
This way, fans at home can sit in front of the TV with a calculator crunching numbers while the Pro Bowl is going, which would make the game about 100x more fun and interesting than it is now.
Hey that's a timeout, I can play right? yeah, get me--get the F-- Help me up...I can throw the ball if you need me to throw the ball...
For what it's worth (which is very, very little)...
Calvin’s one catch was while he was being guarded by Revis, and CJ legitimately beat him on the play. Don’t know what percentage of the time he had revis on him, since I only watched it for 10 minutes or so, but it’s kinda nice, I guess.
Honestly, I think Suh could have raised the game's intensity a notch or two
Because I have a difficult time imagining him going soft like most pro bowl players do.
you can only send a 4 man rush so he would be getting double teamed all game
The next Stanley cup champs-----> Detroit RED WINGS
how well did double teams do against him all season?
I like Wins, Cheese and I also Like Cookies. If you don't. Wow. :P
Well...
He wasn’t playing against a line of all-pros all season. I mean, I’m sure they’d frustrate the hell out of him.
not if they were playing like a house of cards like they were yesterday lol
I like Wins, Cheese and I also Like Cookies. If you don't. Wow. :P
Game was a JOKE
"Show me someone with an offseason and I'll show you someone in last place"- Ndamukong Suh
I enjoyed the game.
But I went to do other things and left it on at background noise after half-time. Regardless of how entertaining it was, you kind of have to stop actively watching it when it’s 42-0 at the half. Talk about a blowout.
So I watched that Alex Mack TD
And sit there and scratch my head at how this game can straight-faced tell people it’s any form of an all-star game.
There are too many rules
that prevent a good fun game for a fan. But I’m sure it was really enjoyable for the players.
I only watched it for CJ.
About your article
Maybe others enjoy watching no defense and lots of scoring,
The NFL rules committee certainly loves offense!
[...]when Giants coach Steve Owen, a certified defensive genius, was asked how he planned to stop Nagurski, he said: "With a shotgun, as he’s leaving the dressing room."
As I said in another thread
They should make the Pro-Bowl worth something. Representative games should be something a player aspires to play in, and it should be one of the toughest since your facing the best of that year. I can understand wanting to wind down after a season and have fun, but I’d rather see the guys play tough football and try to win for the honour of the conference, as well as showcase their skill against the best of the best.
RIP Robyn Bailey 1961 - 2010. I love you mum.
I think
They should have left it for after the Super Bowl, so anyone who is elected to the pro bowl can actually play. Any thoughts on how to make it mean something? We all know what it means to win the All Star game in MLB; anyone see a way to give incentive to playing your butt off in the Pro Bowl? How about two possibilities for host of the Super Bowl, NFC and AFC, with the winners fo the PB to determine which city will actually get the game? Just spit-ballin’, but the majority of posts here are right: It’s pretty pointless as it stands-
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