Started off "Pro All-star game" between All-stars and the NFL champions
Most people don't know the facts about the birth of the NFL's All-Star game. Many only know it as the Pro Bowl, which has been the most used phrase throughout the league's history. As alluded to in the earlier portion of the article, the Pro Bowl was not named until 1950. Before that, it was known as the Pro All-Star Game.
It first started as an event that contributed to charity as the funds made would be given to a charity. One of the first known charities to benefit from this was the Salvation Army. The game was sponsored by the LA Times. The players went to Los Angeles and played a game that would benefit a good cause.
A notable difference was present with this iteration of the All-Star game compared to today's Pro Bowl festivities. It was not two elected All-Star teams facing off against one another. Instead, it was an elected All-Star team that went against the championship club for that season. It was something that was a different idea.
It allowed for the championship team to try and show their dominance against a team of the best football players that the NFL employed. The league champions won the first four All-Star games, but the All-Star club did conclude the series by winning the last-ever contest like this. This style and name of the All-Star event folded due to World War II.