Kinda OT (do pro-bowl selection really mean anything?)

[TheSolderKing]

to me it is a big popularity contest and since the players make the selections it seems like a HS in the sense of how popular 1 is amongst their peers.

Overall does a Pro-Bowl selection mean much at all? I say no.

i'd like to see other responses to this.

Popularity does NOT determine how skilled a player is.

This is an honest post... I don't see how it is a bad thread? If it is you can delete it i guess, but I hope that is not the case.

 

[TheSolderKing]

Botch the title should be Does A

 

[BradyFTW!]

to me it is a big popularity contest and since the players make the selections it seems like a HS in the sense of how popular 1 is amongst their peers.

Overall does a Pro-Bowl selection mean much at all? I say no.

i'd like to see other responses to this.

Popularity does NOT determine how skilled a player is.

This is an honest post... I don't see how it is a bad thread? If it is you can delete it i guess, but I hope that is not the case.

Currently, players are voted into the Pro Bowl by the coaches, the players themselves, and the fans. Each group's ballots count for one third of the votes. The fans vote online at the NFL's official website. There are also replacements that go to the game should any selected player be unable to play due to injuries.

No, the Pro Bowl isn't the NBA all-star game. Coaches and players have 2/3rds of the vote, so it's got to be worth something. There are a lot of questionable choices every year, but I wouldn't call it just a popularity contest.

 

[TheSolderKing]

No, the Pro Bowl isn't the NBA all-star game. Coaches and players have 2/3rds of the vote, so it's got to be worth something. There are a lot of questionable choices every year, but I wouldn't call it just a popularity contest.

I did not know that ty for clearing that up. 2/3's players is still a HUGE number

who has the other 1/3?

 

[Froob]

They do but dont sololy use that to decide weather someone is a good player or not. You usually have to be halfway decent to make it in unless you're the 7th or 8th backup like Vince young after everyone pulls out.

 

[Sparetire]

Brandon merriwather was picked for the last two pro-bowls, does it mean that he is that good? i guess not if BB realeased him, even if BB dosnt like a player, if he is good you would let him stay.

 

[WhoaDirty]

I did not know that ty for clearing that up. 2/3's players is still a HUGE number

who has the other 1/3?

The fans ...

 

[TheSolderKing]

Brandon merriwather was picked for the last two pro-bowls, does it mean that he is that good? i guess not if BB realeased him, even if BB dosnt like a player, if he is good you would let him stay.

that is my point

 

[BillyD123]

Botch the title should be Does A

In a word NO!

Individual award. Mainly voted on by the weeks highlight watchers.
Hence, big hitters making the Pro Bowl like Big Bank Clunk!

 

[Ron Sellers]

I would say that while the Pro Bowl does mean something, it's not the be-all, end-all for determining who the best players are. For example it is questionable how much time and effort some players put into the vote. If I'm not mistaken last year it came out that the Ravens captains determined their team's Pro Bowl votes, i.e., it was the same ballot for all 53 of their players.

Another thing to consider is that due to injuries sometimes the honor becomes almost meaningless. Last year or the year before the AFC ended up sending something like the 8th or 9th QB in votes to the Pro Bowl after so many could not/did not attend.

Aside from being fuel in debates between fans about how this player is better than that player, perhaps the most important thing about the Pro Bowl to players is the incentive bonus that many receive as part of their contract.

All about Pro Bowl bonuses | National Football Post

 

[patriot lifer]

The selections can be questioned in some cases, but they are in large part mostly accurate. It's not like you'll find all-pros missing from the listing, but you will get the occasional mistake. For example in 2006 when Seymour got the probowl when we knew Ty Warren clearly played better (I think that was '06, correct me if I'm off a year), but you rarely witness egregious mistakes.

Players/GM's/agents have included the probowl selection in some contracts as incentives (albeit seldom) like the case with Haynesworth. So there's some recognition of its legitimacy.

With BM, there weren't a lot of quality safeties around in the AFC. Four safeties make the probowl per team (so eight total). For the AFC, Ed Reed was a starter, as well as Dawkins. After that BM and Yeremiah Bell made the team as back-ups. Troy Polamalu didn't play since he was in the Superbowl. Were there better safeties after BM in the AFC? Probably, but they didn't play so much better to get enough attention. Perhaps Weddle was better?? Idk.

I do think that there is a Patriots bias when it comes to both the Probowl and Allpro teams.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I did not know that ty for clearing that up. 2/3's players is still a HUGE number

who has the other 1/3?

It's 1/3 fans, 1/3 players, 1/3 coaches. IMO, the less the fans' opinions count, the better. I'd prefer it if it was 100% coaches, or even coaches and players, but coaches and players having the majority of the vote is still a lot better than how basketball, for instance, does it.

 

[patriot lifer]

It's 1/3 fans, 1/3 players, 1/3 coaches. IMO, the less the fans' opinions count, the better. I'd prefer it if it was 100% coaches, or even coaches and players, but coaches and players having the majority of the vote is still a lot better than how basketball, for instance, does it.

The NFL will definitely always want the fan interaction (with fans being part of the vote), but it would be nice if the NFL released the results of both the coaches' and players' votes. They don't have to have an official name or press release for it, but it would still be interesting/more valuable, as you mentioned.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Also, re: the popularity contest aspect, this is kinda relevant:

University of Miami sets a record with 11 on Pro Bowl roster

I have wondered before whether 'the U' network makes a difference. There's a whole lot of former Hurricanes in the NFL, and they seem to stick to their college roots more than most other players do with their programs (look at how many NFL players go back to Miami to work out together in the offseason and stuff). This is all baseless speculation, just an idle thought that I've had a couple of times before.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

I think A (as in singular) Pro Bowl vote doesn't matter. With injuries and people dropping out, there are a lot of mediocre Pro Bowlers.

But if the guy has multiple Pro Bowls, that's no fluke.

It's not perfect, but it is a better indicator than just one. For example, here's a list of some (not all) players who have a single Pro Bowl.

John Abraham
Joseph Addai
Ethan Albright
Larry Allen
Derek Anderson
Willie Anderson
Jason Babin
Marion Barber
Tiki Barber
Yeremiah Bell
Eric Berry
David Binn
Rob Bironas
Dwayne Bowe
Ronnie Brown
Ruben Brown
Marc Bulger
Derrick Burgess
Jairus Byrd
John Carney
Dan Carpenter
Matt Cassel
Jamaal Charles
Tyson Clabo
Ryan Clady

I didn't edit this list. It's the first 25 names that came up from Pro Football Reference's site for 1 Pro Bowl.

Now here's the same 25 with 2 Pro Bowls:

David Akers
Shawn Andrews
Miles Austin
Ronde Barber
Antoine Bethea
Matt Birk
Anquan Boldin
Derrick Brooks
Jammal Brown
Chad Clifton
Trent Cole
Chris Cooley
Josh Cribbs
Zak DeOssie
Donald Driver
Jahri Evans
D'Brickashaw Ferguson
London Fletcher
Frank Gore
Jordan Gross
DeAngelo Hall
Roman Harper
Al Harris
Tommie Harris
Albert Haynesworth

It's still not perfect, but as you can see, the quality of the list increases significantly. In the first list, I could see 8-10 names I would probably disagree with. In the second list, I see maybe 2 to 3.

So long story short, I don't think a Pro Bowl is an indicator, but multiple usually means something. Unless you're Brandon Meriweather.

 

[TheSolderKing]

obviously there are many deserving players. I am calling out the ones that have no right b/c of injury or b/c of name association. eg. Matt Light made3 it one year he missed a bunch of games and somehow he made the roster. It is like the name means more than anything.

 

[Simkin]

No way. Brandon started at the Probowl and did not start for some games in our team last year( and I wouldnt call our secondary the best of all time, I mea if you are benched behind Rodney Harrison is fine, if you are benched behind some rookies /UFA...)

 

[convertedpatsfan]

obviously there are many deserving players. I am calling out the ones that have no right b/c of injury or b/c of name association. eg. Matt Light made3 it one year he missed a bunch of games and somehow he made the roster. It is like the name means more than anything.

There's a lot of truth to that. And was Mankins deserving despite only playing half the season last year? I don't know. That was a reputation pick it seems.

But it seems that if you are a good player, you sometimes get the benefit of the doubt. Or if no one is head and shoulders above, you get the default pick. That's where reputation may come into things. But you don't get the reputation unless you've done a lot of things right.

It works in a similar way with OL, where a guy doesn't get it the year he was outstanding, but as a make-up call later on because so many people were disgusted he didn't get it.

So I think one is pretty worthless. But if you have a couple, that suggests you're pretty decent.

 

[Simkin]

So Meriweather has the same Prbowls than Anwuan boldin and Albert Haynesworth? Get the f out men that system is wrong

 

[Disco Volante]

David Garrard and Vince Young are Pro-Bowl quarterbacks.

In 2008, Brett Favre and Kerry Collins made it.

Favre = 22 TDs / 22 INTs
Collins = 12 TDs / 6 INTs