Peyton, Eli Manning set to coach 2023 Pro Bowl teams

Peyton and Eli Manning will be the coaches for the 2023 Pro Bowl, the NFL announced during Monday Night Football.

Peyton, a 14-time Pro Bowler over his illustrious career, will coach the AFC team, while Eli will coach the NFC squad. Peyton played his entire career with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, two AFC teams. The same goes for Eli, who played in the NFC for the entirety of his career with the New York Giants.

NFC Head Coach: @EliManning
AFC Head Coach: Peyton Manning

A sibling showdown at the 2023 #ProBowlGames! pic.twitter.com/m9LKc1lSaI

— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2022

The Pro Bowl will be contested under flag football rules for the first time ever this season. The Pro Bowl will be played inside Allegiant Stadium this season, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, and will air on ESPN and ABC on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023.

NFL replacing Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competition, flag football game

The NFL is finally doing something about the Pro Bowl, replacing it with a weeklong skills competition and a flag football game, according to The Associated Press.

“The NFL is replacing the Pro Bowl with weeklong skills competitions and a flag football game, The Associated Press has learned,” wrote Rob Maaddi of the AP. “The new event will replace the full-contact showcase started in 1951. It will be renamed ‘The Pro Bowl Games’ and will feature AFC and NFC players showcasing their football and non-football skills in challenges over several days. The 2023 Games will be held in Las Vegas, and the flag football game at Allegiant Stadium is Sunday, Feb. 5.

“Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions company will help shape programming and promote the event’s content throughout the week. Manning, a 14-time Pro Bowl pick during his Hall of Fame career, will provide his perspective and will also be a part of the coaching staff for flag game.”

After the play that has been seen in the Pro Bowl over recent seasons, something had to be done about it. Moreover, NFL executive Peter O’Reilly told The Associated Press that the feedback regarding the new system has been “overwhelmingly positive” from both players and teams.

“The Pro Bowl is something that we’ve been looking at for a while, really continuing to evolve,” O’Reilly told The Associated Press. “Coming out of last year’s game, we really made the decision based on a lot of internal conversations, getting feedback from GMs and coaches, getting a lot of feedback from players. We think there’s a real opportunity to do something wholly different here and move away from the traditional tackle football game. We decided the goal is to celebrate 88 of the biggest stars in the NFL in a really positive, fun, yet competitive way.

“The feedback very directly from guys who had been in the Pro Bowl recently was to keep the construct of the week, make sure you’re having that multi-day element. It was overwhelmingly positive both from players as well as from clubs.”