The History Of The NFL Pro Bowl

Every professional sport in North America has its own version of an All Star game. The NFL version is the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl and it has been played every year since 1939. In that game the 1938 NFL Champion New York Giants rolled into Los Angeles to face a collection of NFL All Stars at the west coast Wrigley Field.

Though the game was poorly attended by just 39,000 fans in a city starving for an NFL franchise a tradition was born that lives on today. The Giants won the inaugural Pro Bowl by a 13-10 final score.

NFL Pro Bowl – The Early Days

During the first five years of the Pro Bowl the game was played by NFL All Stars against that years NFL Champions. The Champs won the first four games before the All Stars finally broke through with a 17-14 win over the Washington Redskins. To this day many blame Hall of Fame QB Sammy Baugh for the embarrassing loss as “Slingin’ Sammy” refused to play in the game.

For three years (1951 to 1953) the game was played by squads representing the NFL National and American Conferences with National side wining two of the three games. From 1954 until 1970 the Pro Bowl was played by teams representing the East and the West. The West was dominant over those 17 years as they won 11 games and lost just six.

The American Football League Joins The Pro Bowl Party

In 1962 the upstart American Football League began playing their own Pro Bowl game in the same East versus West fashion. The lone exception came in 1966 when the AFL Champion Buffalo Bills played against a team made up of AFL All Stars with the latter winning 30-19.

In the other eight contests, the AFL West dominated the AFL East winning six of eight games. In those eight games the West outscored the East by a combined score of 244-162. The final game in the history of the American Football League was a Pro Bowl game won by the West 26-3 on January 17, 1970. After that game the NFL and AFL merged to create the modern day National Football League.

National Football League Modern Day AFC-NFC Pro Bowl

The merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970 led to the first modern day AFC-NFC Pro Bowl game. The inaugural Pro Bowl was played on January 24, 1971 and was won by the NFC by a 27-6 final score. Though the NFC was dominant in the first Pro Bowl, the series has been very even over the past 40 years.

The modern day Pro Bowl record stands dead even with both the AFC and NFC winning 20 games each. Even the scores are evenly matched. The NFC has won their 20 games by a combined score of 565-342 while the AFC has won their 20 games by a combined 557-374 score.

Overtime has been needed to decide the winner in two of the 40 previous Pro Bowl games. In 1993 the AFC won 23-20 on 33 yard field goal by the Kansas City Chiefs Nick Lowery. The other overtime game was in 1997 and the AFC came out on top in that one as well. Indianapolis Colts placekicker Cary Blanchard kicked a 37-yard field goal to give the AFC a 26-23 victory.

The Stars shine bright when the AFC and NFC lock horns in the Pro Bowl!