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Props to Mr. Polian

Posted Jan 27, 2010 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Jan 28, 2010 at 10:55 PM

TAMPA—Take a bow, Bill Polian.

The crusty president of the AFC champion Colts just spoke for many in the NFL fraternity, blasting the league’s new Pro Bowl format as a farce.

By switching the game from Honolulu to the U.S.. mainland for the first time since 1980, NFL officials hoped to stimulate more interest in the annual all-star matchup. Then the league chose to move the game up to the Sunday between the conference title games and the Super Bowl.

That decision meant players from the Super Bowl clubs would be prohibited from participating in the Pro Bowl. No Peyton Manning, no Drew Brees, no Dwight Freeney, no Darren Sharper.

That’s fine, except the NFL now expects those players to be in South Florida in time for the Pro Bowl anyway, arriving a day ahead of their teammates just so they can wave and bow to the crowd at Miami Gardens.

“The fact of the matter is that we’re thinking that they’re down there Sunday night and they will meet Monday, which is a hell of a thing, isn’t it?’’ Polian said on an Indianapolis radio station. “It sends a great message to all the young people out there and all the coaches that talk teamwork that you take your best seven players and split them up from your team at the ultimate moment in sports.’‘

By demanding the presence of 14 Pro Bowlers a day early, the league hasn’t created a competitive disadvantage for either club.

It’s just a bad decision by a league that usually gets things right.

And by the way—keep the game in Hawaii from now on. The Pro Bowl has been well supported in Honolulu and you might actually get some players excited about the honor of being selected instead of figuring out ways to ditch a ho-hum trip to Miami.