After years of being absent, the Pro Bowl finally made its return to the Madden NFL series a few years ago. Players were happy to see this feature return to the game after so many years of not being in the game. Well, fans that waited so long for its return may soon see the Pro Bowl not just leave Madden, but also leaving the NFL.
Today it was announced that the NFL would be scrapping its annual Pro Bowl game in favor of a week-long skills competition. This week of events will culminate in a flag football game featuring players from the AFC and NFC. Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning and his production company, Omaha Productions, will help to coordinate the events and promote the content that week. Manning will also serve on the coaching staff for the flag football game.
What This Means for Madden NFL
Now that the Pro Bowl is going away, what can fans of Madden NFL expect to see in next year’s game to reflect this? Hopefully EA Sports will be able to make changes that properly reflects this move. It would be weird to still see the Pro Bowl game in Madden when it is no longer being played. It would also be disappointing if the game was removed, and nothing was added to replace it. The new skills competition need to be showcased in Madden in some way next year.
While we do not yet what the new Pro Bowl Games will consist of, we can expect it to be like previous skills challenges. These have included things like a Best Catch Competition, Precision Passing, and a Dodgeball tournament. These would be very fun to play as small mini games, like the mini camps that were in the Madden NFL games of the PS2/Xbox/GameCube generation.
We also know that there will be a flag football game. It will be fun to see if EA Sports is able to add this as a new party mode, or maybe as an addition to The Yard. Since Peyton Manning is going to be a coach, EA could use some of the legendary players they have the rights for to show up on the sidelines as coaches too.
Regardless of what is added, it is clear EA Sports needs to add the Pro Bowl Games to next year’s Madden. Fans have been begging for the old skill challenge mini games to come back, and this is the perfect opportunity for that to happen. Hopefully EA Sports will have enough time to work something out.
What would you like to see added to next year’s Madden NFL for the skills competition? In the mean time, be sure to check out our review of the latest Madden title, Madden NFL 23.
