Pro Bowl on block?

NFL COMMISSIONER Roger Goodell said the league must find a way to improve the quality of play in the Pro Bowl and suggested the game could be eliminated if improvements are not made.

"We're either going to have to improve the quality of what we're doing in the Pro Bowl or consider other changes or even consider eliminating the game if that's the kind of quality game we're going to provide," Goodell said yesterday in an interview with ESPN Radio.

Goodell said he has already spoken to players association executive director DeMaurice Smith about potential changes.

"I know players love to be in Hawaii, but we have to start with the quality of what we're doing," Goodell said. "If the fans are responding negatively to what we're doing, we better listen. And that was my message."

On Twitter, NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said, "The Pro Bowl is an important tradition; one that we as players want to keep."

Running back Curtis Martin, along with four linemen and one senior committee choice, were elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He is joined by Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf, Dermontti Dawson, and senior selection Jack Butler.

Jerome Bettis, Cris Carter and Bill Parcells were among the finalists who didn't make it.

"When I get awarded something like the Hall of Fame, it's almost foreign to me," said Martin, the NFL's No. 4 career rusher. "This wasn't something I planned on doing. Football is something I did so I didn't end up jailed or dead.

"If you make up your mind to just do the right thing no matter what . . . and you stick to it, which I did, this is how things can turn around. I feel as if my life turned around from what it used to be, and I think anyone has a chance."