NFL announces Pro Bowl Games skills challenge events

The revamped NFL Pro Bowl doesn’t stop at adding a flag football to the game itself. New football and non-football challenges will be added to the event’s skills competitions.

The skills portion will be split into two days of events. The first half will take place on Thursday, February 2, at the Intermountain Raiders’ Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson. It is set to air live from 4 to 5:30 PM on ESPN.

The second day of skills challenges will take place on Sunday, February 5 at Allegiant Stadium, where the flag football games will also take place. These events are scheduled to air between noon and 3 p.m. on ABC and ESPN.

The Feb. 2 installment of the skills challenge will feature five events, pitting the AFC against the NFC. Each event is worth three points toward the conference total, with 24 total points up for grabs.

Tickets for the Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium are available online and start at $35.

Epic Pro Dodgeball

Four teams of five players will participate in a multi-round dodgeball tournament. The tournament will begin with teams made up of offenses and defenses from both conferences. AFC offense will play AFC defense, then NFC offense will face NFC defense.

The winners of those two games will face each other in an AFC-NFC showdown, good for three points toward the winning conference’s Pro Bowl total.

Round round

Each conference will select 16 players to participate in the Lightning Round three-part elimination event. The challenge will culminate with one player remaining, earning points for their conference.

The Lightning Round includes a water balloon throwing contest; a fist-catching challenge with balls fired from a JUGS machine and a target challenge, with multiple targets to be hit, before a bucket is dropped on the head of the winning team’s coach.

The longest drive

Four players from each conference will participate in a golf ball driving challenge. Each player will get three swings. The player who drives the ball the furthest, keeping the ball in bounds, will be the winner.

Correct pass

In each conference, three quarterbacks will participate in a one-minute accuracy challenge, with multiple robotic and drone targets, worth one to five points, and a 10-point long shot bucket, worth 10 points. Each quarterback will accumulate points for hitting different targets.

The best catch

The two-day Best Catch event will begin with a main reel reception at various locations in Las Vegas. Two players from each conference will participate in the event, being judged on creativity, intuitiveness and talent.

After the snaps air on ESPN, fans will vote for their favorites online, with the players with the highest votes competing in the Feb. 5 finale at Allegiant Stadium.

February 5th will see the final four skills events and the flag football showdown between the two conferences in front of the Allegiant Stadium crowd.

The best catch

The Best Catch tournament finale will culminate with the top vote-getters from February 2 competing against each other in front of a panel of celebrity judges.

The player with the highest score from the judges will win the event.

The Gridiron Gauntlet

Six players from each conference will participate in a relay race that will test their agility, speed and strength. The back-to-back race will have four segments, each 40 yards long. They include running through breakaway walls, climbing over walls and under tables, a tire run and a sled blocking event with an NFL legend on board. The first team to cross the finish line wins.

Kick Tac Toe

Each team’s forward, shooter and passer will race to connect a line of three squares or five squares on a tic-tac-toe on the set court to win the challenge.

Move the chains

Two teams of five players from each conference will compete back-to-back in a weighted wall pull.

The team will pull a wall equipped with heavy weights 10 yards using the first chains down. The winner of the best-of-three event will win the points.

After the skills events, the flag football games will take place. The winners of each of the first two flag football matches will earn six points for each game.

These points will be added to the points accumulated by each team during skill events to crown a Pro Bowl winner.

Contact Mick Akers at [email protected] or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.