The back and forth regarding the effort given at the Pro Bowl continues with Houston Texans running back Arian Foster. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants a better product, saying the game will be discontinued if the effort doesn't improve. Foster explained that's easier said than done.
"This isn't basketball; you can't go play a pickup game of football," Foster said Friday, via The Associated Press.
Foster said it's impossible for players to give 100 percent in this format.
"I think it's an honor and a tradition, but for you to expect the best athletes in the NFL to come out and play a game 100 percent when you can't game plan, you can't blitz, you can't do all these things, it's not going to be competitive like everybody wants it to be," Foster said.
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning noted the Pro Bowl provides an opportunity for established veterans and former stars to interact with the NFL's young studs -- LaDainian Tomlinson and Adrian Peterson, for example.
"Don't tell me there's not great value in that conversation," Manning said. "If they cancel this, then I think the NFL will lose that. Is there monetary value in that conversation? I would argue yes. I would argue that's helping keep the NFL as great as it is. So I'd hate for it to be canceled."
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.