Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League (NFL). From the merger with the rival American Football League (AFL) in 1970 up through 2013, it was officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference (AFC) against those in the National Football Conference (NFC). Since 2014, the teams have been selected by two honorary team captains (who are each in the Hall of Fame), instead of selecting players from each conference. The players are picked in a televised "schoolyard pick" prior to the game.

Unlike most North American sports leagues, which hold their all-star games roughly midway through their respective regular seasons, the Pro Bowl is played around the end of the NFL season. Between 1970 and 2009, it was usually held the weekend after the Super Bowl. Since 2010, the Pro Bowl has been played the weekend before the Super Bowl. Players from the two teams going for the Super Bowl do not participate.

The Pro Bowl has caused controversy within recent history. It draws lower TV ratings than its regular-season games, although the game draws similar ratings to other major all-star games such as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, the biggest concern of teams is to avoid injuries to the star players. The Associated Press wrote that players in the 2012 game were "hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight."