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NFL Notebook: Pro Bowl, Senior Bowl, NFL 2025, awards and more

By Zach Cohen

ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 26: Keenan Allen #13 of the Los Angeles Chargers makes a catch in the first half of the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 26, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 26: Keenan Allen #13 of the Los Angeles Chargers makes a catch in the first half of the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 26, 2020 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /

Home Sweet Home?

Last week, I explained why I enjoy the Pro Bowl and why nothing will ever replace it. After some consideration, I have thought of one way the action could be amplified a little, even if it isn’t the most foolproof idea.

What if the winning conference of the Pro Bowl secured home-field advantage in the Super Bowl? For example, the AFC won this year, so next year’s Super Bowl would feature the AFC as the home team. It would have to be the next Super Bowl, though.

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For starters, it needs to be known who the home team is way before the Pro Bowl occurs. That way, teams can prepare their uniform choices, among other minute factors. As it stands, the conferences rotate who is the home team and who is the away team. This year, the Chiefs will be home and the 49ers will be away.

With the knowledge that winning the Pro Bowl could secure their team home-field advantage in the following year’s Super Bowl, maybe players would have more incentive to actually perform well? This made me curious if it actually mattered who was home and who was away in the Super Bowl.

Since the first Super Bowl in 1967, the away team has won 30 out of 53 times. I was shocked to find that since 2010, the home team has won only two times. I’m not saying that might discourage players from trying more in the Pro Bowl, but it could be an argument against giving the winning conference home-field advantage.

Another idea that’s floated around is financial compensation, but that already occurs. This season, players on the winning team took home $70,000 while the losers still made $35,000. An increase in money might be convincing enough for younger players on cheaper contracts, but the younger guys usually show out anyway. For the veterans, there’s likely no amount of money that can persuade them to jeopardize their careers over a meaningless football game.

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