While Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson didn’t play in the Pro Bowl, he had a major impact on this year’s festivities. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gave Wilson credit for some of the Pro Bowl Games’ new formatting.

On the Tuesday after last year’s Pro Bowl, Goodell said that Wilson called him and said, “let’s have a flag football game,” via CBS’ Jonathan Jones. At this year’s Pro Bowl Games, the AFC and NFC competed in flag football games.

The NFL had been looking for ways to spice up the Pro Bowl. It doesn’t make sense to play actual tackle football in what is a meaningless game. The league wants to showcase their athletes, but not risk concussions or ACL tears in a game where the score doesn’t matter.

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Roger Goodell and the league took inspiration from Russell Wilson in changing the format to flag football. The AFC and NFC competed in three flag football games at this year’s Pro Bowl Games. They also competed in numerous skills competitions with the NFC – who was coached by Eli Manning – coming out on top, 35-33.

In the first year of the Pro Bowl Games, the event brought in six million viewers. After officially making the change, the NFL may opt to continue the event in this format.

The Pro Bowl was never taken seriously to begin with. Players didn’t want to injure one another. Russell Wilson came up with a plan to avoid those injuries while still highlighting the NFL’s stars. Goodell and the league adopted it.