Darrell Thompson, ex-Packers first-round pick, supports Pro Bowl change: 'Can’t play football half-a--ed'

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Former Green Bay Packers running back Darrell Thompson supported the NFL’s decision to switch up the Pro Bowl festivities when it returns to Las Vegas in February.

The NFL announced earlier in the week the Pro Bowl will no longer feature a contact game, instead being replaced by a series of competitions during the week that end with a flag-football contest. The event was being rebranded as the Pro Bowl Games.

Thompson, a former first-round draft pick out of Minnesota, told Fox News Digital in a recent interview he thought the change made sense.

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Derwin James of the Los Angeles Chargers and AFC waves after getting an interception against the NFC during the NFL Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 6, 2022, in Las Vegas. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

"I think it’s smart. Football is so much of a different (sport). I was talking to a friend of mine who broadcasts for professional basketball. He was mentioning it right when it came across the wire and I said, ‘You really can’t play football half-a--ed,’" said Thompson, who is now a member of the Pro Football Retired Players Association board.

"You can play basketball full speed, All-Star Game. You can do full speed, obviously baseball, hockey to an extent. But you just can’t do it in football like that. There needs to be a little bit of aggression that’s hard to generate when the game means nothing. You don’t really have the time to practice. It’s a different beast. You don’t play pickup tackle football. It just doesn’t work.

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Green Bay Packers' Darrell