Lions player says the Pro Bowl is pointless if it's not in Hawaii

The NFL might have a hard time convincing players to go to the Pro Bowl

If every player in the NFL thinks like Lions cornerback Darius Slay, the Pro Bowl could turn into a nightmare for the league this year.

Slay, who thought he got snubbed in the Pro Bowl voting last year, doesn't really care what happens in the vote this year because he doesn't really want to play in the game.

"As long as my teammates really see me as a Pro Bowl player, I ain't really worried because I feel it's a politic thing anyway," Slay said, via ESPN.com. "But I would just like to. But, I'm mad. Is the Pro Bowl even in Hawaii no more? It's really pointless. That's what I really wanted to do."

The Lions corner said that the league's decision to move the game from Hawaii to Orlando, Florida makes it less desirable.

"That's why I wanted to go [because it was in Hawaii]," Slay said, via ESPN.com. "I'd rather just get the All-Pro status and don't go Pro Bowl. Because I just really wanted to go to Hawaii, really wanted to just to go to Hawaii for free."

If every NFL player is thinking like that, the Pro Bowl could turn into a disaster this year. The NFL has had enough trouble getting players to play in the game when it was being played in Hawaii, so the move to Florida could mean that even more players back out.

For the 2016 Pro Bowl, which was held in January, the NFL got rejected left and right by guys who didn't want to play in the game. Players can back out if they're playing in the Super Bowl or if they're "injured." Injured is in quotation marks because there's no basis for how injured a player has to be to back out. If a player doesn't want to play, he can just say he's injured.

The January 2016 game almost turned into a nightmare when the league had to invite 47 alternates to play. The original Pro Bowl roster consisted of 86 players last season, but that got bumped up to a record 133 invites when you count the original roster and the alternates.

To keep fans and players interested, the league has added a skills challenge this year, which is scheduled to include a rousing game of dodgeball. The NFL better hope that players like dodgeball, or they might stop showing up for the game.