The Pro Bowl was as uneventful as usual for most of the NFL's elite players, who probably took part as much for the free trip to Hawaii and the beach-side massages and Mai Tai's as for the game of two-hand touch they were asked to perform in and act like they really, totally wanted to be a part of. But in an incident that perhaps highlights the inherent pointlessness of a meaningless game of a football - a sport built on collisions and rife with opportunities for injury - Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert limped out of Aloha Stadium on Sunday night in a walking boot.
Luckily for Bengals fans, early word is that it's a "minor injury," per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Eifert left the game in the fourth quarter and was examined immediately. There was no break apparent then, but Eifert plans to have further testing done once he returns to Cincinnati.
"I don't really know what happened. I jammed my heel," Eifert told the team website. "I'll be good."
It's fortunate that Eifert's breakout 2015 campaign won't end with any kind of significant injury. But this is the kind of scare that explains why so many players - 42 of them did so this season - pull out of the league's annual self-congratulatory celebration.
Football is a tough game. And despite the slowed pace and limited physicality of the Pro Bowl, there are plenty of chances for players to get hurt. In fact, it always seems to be that injuries come when guys are playing at half-speed and trying to protect themselves instead of just playing.
The NFL has no plans to do away with the Pro Bowl at this point, but had Eifert's injury been more serious, it could certainly change plenty of minds at NFL HQ. That would have been a bitter pill for Bengals fans to swallow, but may have been beneficial in the long run to the league as a whole.
