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The 2023 Pro Bowl games were reimagined in a new format after last year, but Mike Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons coach, was left decidedly unimpressed by the entire effort. The Pro Bowl games featured skills challenges like their previous iterations, but instead of being a sideshow, they were integral to the event this year and carried three points each.
However, the main draw for the games were the three flag football games that took place between the AFC and the NFC. The first two games were worth six points each, while the final game decided the 2023 Pro Bowl Champion, which turned out to be the NFC.
Mike Smith did acknowledge that it was a good idea to promote flag football, especially as it seeks to attract a new demographic among women and children. While that may be a starting point, seeing top NFL players play the game seemed like going to the park and seeing some guys throw the ball around.
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The 2023 Pro Bowl was supposed to showcase the best of the NFL and their abilities, according to coach Smith, but that did not happen. Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda's "The BallFather Podcast", he said:
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"I think the NFL's got a chance with promoting flag football experiment with women. I think that part of it is kind of cool. But I think they're gonna have to make some changes. They'll have try and figure out some ways to make it a little bit better. It did kind of promote flag football for young kids and for girls.
I think that's something that the NFL is trying to promote, but just watching the top guys not playing real football, it was it was kind of tough. The skill set was was out of this world. Don't get me wrong. ... But it was like going to a park early, watching four or five guys throw the ball around. But yeah, they got to take a good look at it, and they're going to have try to figure it out."
Why did 2023 Pro Bowl feature flag football over the objections of veteran coaches like Mike Smith?
While Mike Smith is not happy with the current format, he said that the NFL needs to have a look at it to figure it out. They cannot go back to the old format, which had turned into a farce with players trying to avoid contact injuries after the season.
The 2023 Pro Bowl was a change to eliminate some of the problems that had crept in, but they might need a more viable format.
