Following Football: Updates Around the Gridiron

The NFL announced on September 27th that the annual Pro Bowl and its festivities will be replaced with a new Pro Bowl Games starting this season. For most fans, this news is long overdue as scrutiny over the lack of excitement and intensity of the game has grown throughout the years. There have been several changes to the Pro Bowl format to gain more following; however, viewership is still declining. This is NFL's latest of attempts to try to bring more fan engagement and to hopefully revive the leagues "all-star weekend."  A Brief History The first formal Pro Bowl was held in January of 1951. The game brought together the most outstanding players from each conference (AFC and NFC) to compete in an all-star game. For two decades, it was held in Los Angeles. In 1980, it was moved to Honolulu, Hawaii. In Hawaii, it gained popular demand by the players and fans for an opportunity to take a trip to the island. It was held in Hawaii until 2009, when it got moved back to the m

  Joe Shiesty... Joe Brrr... Joe Cool... These are just a few of the nicknames Joe Burrow has collected on his way to stardom. The former LSU quarterback took the nation by storm during his 2019 collegiate senior season, putting up one of the greatest stat lines ever by throwing for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns. Given this, it is not hard to see why they won the national championship that year. The LSU star then became the number-one overall draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Cincinnati Bengals. A Successful Start to the Marriage His rookie campaign had a strong start, throwing for 2,688 yards through 11 games and 13 touchdowns. However, he was sacked 32 times and this beating ended up costing him the rest of the season as he went down with a torn ACL in Week 11's game against Washington.  However, all this set him up to have an incredible comeback story the following year. The Bengals drafted former LSU wideout (and teammate of Burrow) Ja'Marr Chase in the 2021 NFL Draf

  In the early hours of September 9th, the Texas Longhorns faced off against the number one ranked team in country, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The matchup was set-up to be an instant classic. The last time the Longhorns faced the Tide on the football field was back in the 2009 season in the national championship game. As well, current UT head coach, Steve Sarkisian, was on the Tide's coaching staff under Nick Saban before coming to Austin.  The game hosted Fox's Big Noon Kickoff broadcast as well as ESPN's College Gameday. For Longhorn fans, it seemed everything was lined up for it to be a perfect day to upset the best team in the country; however, the biggest "what if" revealed its nasty head once again as the Longhorns fell just short of the Tide, 20-19. As mentioned, the Longhorns had previously battled the Crimson Tide in the National Championship during the 2009 season, where the legendary "what if" question first got sparked. The Horns were led by s

            One of the more underrated conversations floating around the league is that of the Houston Texans, and especially of Davis Mills. The third round pick out of Stanford University in the 2021 NFL draft seemed to get lost in the hype around top rookie quarterbacks last season such as Mac Jones, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Justin Fields. Which makes sense given the measly record of only 4-13 posted by the Texans during that season. However, after getting the starting job after the former starting quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, got hurt, Mills went on to put up one of the better seasons of all rookie quarterbacks.   Underrated Rookie Campaign     When discussing some of the top rookie quarterback talents in the 2021 season, it is easy to forget about Davis Mills. The rookie out of Stanford just couldn't stand up to the hype around national champion Mac Jones or Clemson sensation Trevor Lawrence. As well, the Texans have been in a deep slump since the infamous Bill O'Br