Although there won’t be a game, the NFL will still name a Pro Bowl roster as an individual honor. With Week 1 of the 2026 season barely completed, thinking about who will be among the 88 players selected in December might be rushing things a bit.
With just a few exceptions, as far back as the 1938 season, there has been some semblance of an NFL All-Star or Pro Bowl game.
The official term “Pro Bowl” was coined during the 1950 season. After the American Football League and National Football League completed their merger in 1970, the end-of-season, star-studded game became a popular attraction.
Many fans and players, current and retired, are unhappy that the game featuring the best of the best for a particular season is no more. Among them is Rodgers-Cromartie, 40, who was selected as a cornerback for the 2010 and 2016 Pro Bowl games.
“I don’t like it. It was a week for the guys to spend in Hawaii, and also for the fans to interact with the players,” Rodgers-Cromartie told The Epoch Times during a phone conversation on Monday.
“I wanted to win the game knowing that I was going up against the best of the best in the league. That’s why we had a Pro Bowl game. I wanted to prove to all of the players that I belonged in the game. That’s why I had two interceptions in the 2016 game.”
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Aside from playing on the artificial turf at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, going to the Pro Bowl meant one week in paradise for players and coaching staff. From 1980 to 2016, with two exceptions, the NFL booked Aloha Stadium for the Pro Bowl.
Rodgers-Cromartie was selected for a postseason trip to Honolulu after his second season in the NFL while with the Arizona Cardinals. However, because of an injury during a playoff game against the New Orleans Saints, the 2008 16th overall draft pick couldn’t make the trip.
“As a player, you really want to be in the Super Bowl. The next best thing was being in the Pro Bowl game,” Rodgers-Cromartie, who appeared in Super Bowl XLIII for the Cardinals opposite the Pittsburgh Steelers, said.
As the NFL has walked away from presenting a competitive all-star game, North America’s other three major professional sports continue with their mid-season gatherings of superstars. In July, MLB presented the 96th edition of its All-Star Game in Philadelphia.
Baseball’s Midsummer Classic dates back to 1933. In 2026, the NBA held its 75th All-Star Game in Los Angeles, and Phoenix is the site selected for the 2027 game. The NHL’s 69th All-Star Game will be held in February 2027 at the New York Islanders’ UBS Arena on Long Island.
Team Irvin cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie #41 of the New York Giants carries the ball against Team Rice during the second half of the 2016 NFL Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Jan. 31, 2016. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
“The Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL,” Peter O’Reilly, NFL’s executive vice president, club business, international and league events, said at the time.
“A Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the best. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans.”
“I think there were a lot of people complaining that the game became soft, that it wasn’t a true competition anymore without tackling. I especially liked going up against my former teammates when I was with the Giants,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it was still about the fans’ interaction with us players. Those who couldn’t make it to our training camps, they were able to meet us at the Pro Bowl game.”
Besides mingling with the football public and enjoying the warm Hawaii weather, Rodgers-Cromartie remembers “hanging” with the locals for opportunities to learn about customs and cuisines. One of his happiest career memories, he said, is learning he would be among five Cardinals selected to represent the NFC in the 2010 Pro Bowl.
Aloha Stadium during the singing of the National Anthem before the Pro Bowl in Honolulu on Jan. 31, 2016. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Ken Whisenhunt, then in his third year of what would be six seasons as the Cardinals’ head coach, showed a flair for the dramatic.
“The Cardinals did a real good thing. After one of our practices, coach Whisenhunt brought out our jerseys in a frame, and they had a Pro Bowl patch sewed on one of the sleeves. He wanted us to feel important in front of the whole team,” Rodgers-Cromartie, who snatched 30 interceptions during his 12-year pro career, said.
Today, an energetic Rodgers-Cromartie remains involved in football since his retirement after the 2019 season. He volunteers as a coach at Bradenton’s Bayshore High School in southwest Florida.
He has been offering advice to head coach Ace Sanders since the 2024 season. Still playing flag football and basketball, Rodgers-Cromartie displays the stamina of an NFL veteran 10 years his junior.
That game in Aloha Stadium in 2016 is a Pro Bowl memory that, unfortunately, others can no longer duplicate.
