Whether it is played the week before or the week after the Super Bowl, the Pro Bowl is as worthless as ever.

There was a time, I guess, when the Pro Bowl meant a little something. Jack Youngblood played in it with a broken leg, after all.

But that was 1979. The average salary for an NFL player back then was a meager $79,000. The extra greenbacks players received for suiting up for the winning team in the Pro Bowl — plus the added incentive of a free trip to Hawaii in the dead of winter — were enough to entice even the most banged-up dudes to try to win one more game.

Thirty years later, the average NFL salary is $1.8 million.

Yet the share given to the winning team in the Pro Bowl is largely unchanged.

And this year, there's not even a trip to Hawaii involved.

There is no longer a monetary incentive big enough for the game's best to play in a meaningless game and risk injury.

Do you think Tom Brady needs some extra coin? No way.

That's why he and virtually every big-name star will sit out this year's Pro Bowl.

Before long, The AFC will be calling on Steely McBeam to suit up at defensive end.

The game has deteriorated into a joke with no punch line.

The rules aren't even the same. Teams aren't allowed to blitz or, gasp, even try to block a punt of field goal.

They might as well play flag football.

That might be more entertaining.

The Pro Bowl needs to be put out of its misery. The NFL already names an All-Pro team. Leave it at that.

Still, there is a void that needs to be filled. Football fans need some outlet during that week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

Two uninterrupted weeks of nonsense stories about long snappers and the quarterback's favorite seafood dish is too much.

So, what is the NFL to do? Here are some ideas:

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The Practice Squad Bowl. Each team carries eight players on their practice squad. Most never see game action.Form AFC and NFC teams of the best practice squad performers as chosen by all 32 teams and let them play against each other.You'd see about 20 weeks of pent-up aggression come out in 60 minutes of football.Who knows? Someone might have a breakout game, get noticed and be the next, um, Tom Brady.That would be entertaining.•

The Losers Bowl. Take the losers of the conference championship games and have them play in a consolation game for third place.Hey, there was a third-place consolation game in my fantasy football league. Why not in real life?Who wouldn't want to see Brett Favre gunslinging against (one of) his former teams. Maybe his final pass wouldn't be an interception.•

Toilet Bowl. The two teams with the worst record duke it out for the first pick in the NFL Draft. The winner gets the first pick, naturally.Also known as the Ndamukong Suh Bowl this season. Or if the Lions should win, the How Can We Mess Up This Pick Bowl.Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.