2023 NFL Pro Bowl: What are the eight unique skills competitions players will compete in?

The Pro Bowl returns this weekend - the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will host the multi-day event in which stars from the AFC and NFC go head-to-head in a series of skill challenges, culminating with a 7-on-7 flag football game on Sunday afternoon. For some however, the event has turned into an irrelevance, a joke - an opinion that has been around for several years now. While the league has long since sworn off the idea of bringing back any sort of relevance to the game, the NFL has opted instead to go full-shark jump with the event.

The 2023 Pro Bowl, which was rebranded “the Pro Bowl Games” a few months ago in order to quickly disabuse you of any notion that this is a football game, is in fact a series of events which are meant to highlight the fun and athleticism of the top players. A kind of carnival-themed office fun day on a grand scale.

The eight skills that will be on display are a mixture of football-specific activities and non-football related, family fun and, hopefully for the NFL, crowd pleasing. Here is a full list of what is on offer.

Epic Pro Bowl Dodgeball

You remember it from school. The ultimate divider of the hunter and prey, a masterclass in natural selection at work. That’s right. Dodgeball. Four teams of five players will whittle down to an all-AFC vs NFC showdown.

Lightning Round

A new one for 2023, each conference will select 16 players to compete in a three-part elimination challenge including catching water balloons, catching punts, and trying to dunk a bucket on the opposition’s coach.

Longest Drive

Four players from each conference will try to drive a golf ball the furthest distance off a tee.

Precision Passing

presented by EA SPORTS Madden NFL 23 Mobile

A one-minute accuracy competition by all six quarterbacks, where they throw at a selection of ten targets, working against the clock.

Best Catch

presented by Uber Eats

A kind of slam-dunk contest for receivers, where they compete not so much in actually making the catch, but in the style and pizzazz that they display in doing so. Favorites are decided by fan vote in the first round and by a panel of judges in the final.

Gridiron Gauntlet

A side-by-side relay race through a course which includes breakaway walls, climbing and scrambling, a tire run, and blocking sled over 40 yards.

Kick Tac Toe

Each team’s kicker, punter and long snapper compete in a giant Tic-Tac-Toe competition.

Move The Chains

Four teams will compete side by side in a weighted wall pull over a ten-yard distance.