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| Scott Blain. 23rd December, 2008 - 8:36 pm
 Bears' linebacker Brian Urlacher said that the Pro Bowl is a popularity contest.
"If people like you, they're going to vote for you," Urlacher said. "That's all there is to it. As a player, I vote for guys I like, not necessarily guys who have good years. If there's a center who's going to keep Olin Kreutz out of the Pro Bowl, I won't vote for him. I don't know if all teams do that, but that's the way I do it."
The Pro Bowl might have the fairest system for determining All-Star players then any other professional sport. The fan vote is worth one-third of the vote, the players get another third, and the coaches get the final third. But one selection might prove Urlacher's case that the voting is purely based on popularity.
Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, but his selection to the AFC roster this season is purely based on past accomplishments and popularity rather then performance.
Favre's statistics show that he is not worthy of a Pro Bowl selection.
This season Favre has thrown for 21 touchdowns and 19 interceptions, very average numbers at best. His 19 picks lead the NFL. That's right. The quarterback with the most interceptions is going to the Pro Bowl.
He is also the 18th highest rated passer in the league with a very average mark of 84.0. He has also contributed to the Jets' poor play over the last couple of weeks. In the last four games -- the Jets have lost three of those four -- Favre has six interceptions against only one touchdown.
In all of those games Favre failed to throw for over 250 yards, this from a player who used to easily throw for 300 to 400 yards in a game in the prime of his great career. The fact is that there is a laundry list of players who deserved to make it over Favre in the AFC.
The first is Phillip Rivers of San Diego, who is the highest rated quarterback in the league with a rating of 104.0. His touchdown to interception ratio is way better than Favre's; he has 32 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions.
Rivers has kept the Chargers season alive all year. The main reason for the majority of San Diego's losses this season has been the last minute scores their defense has given up. Rivers has not had a consistent running game all season either, with running back LaDainian Tomlinson fighting with injuries all season long. Rivers should be in the debate to start the game alongside Peyton Manning and not be behind Favre just to play in the game.
How about with the man who Favre replaced in New York?
Chad Pennington has been a key factor in Miami's turnaround from 1-15 to playoff contenders. Pennington, who was criticized for a lack of arm strength, actually has more passing yards than Favre with 3,453 yards compared to Favre's total of 3,239 yards.
Pennington has been a great game manager with the Dolphins, as well, with 17 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions this season. Only Rivers has a higher passer rating than Pennington's 96.4.
Matt Cassel had to replace last year's MVP when Tom Brady was lost for the season in Week One. Cassel is the league's 11th rated passer with a rating of 89.2 to go along with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
The highlight of Cassel's season was when he threw for 400 yards in back-to-back games in Weeks 11 and 12. Cassel has also been strong down the stretch for the Patriots with eight touchdowns and just one interception in the team's last three games.
Favre has struggled down the stretch and has not thrown anywhere near 400 yards all season; his high was 290 against the lowly Kansas City Chiefs,.
Aside from losing Brady, the Patriots have lost many key players on defense including Adalius Thomas and Rodney Harrison. Cassel has kept his team together and in the playoff hunt all year long.
This might not have happened if the voting closed at the end of the season instead of during. Many fans could have voted for Favre before he started to slump. If the voting concluded at the end of the season, hopefully most of the fans would have voted for a player more deserving than Favre.
Players should go to the Pro Bowl for their play over the entire season, not for just part of it. The last thing the fans -- who I assume are the guilty party -- should do is vote for a player with great history over a player that's having a tremendous season.
Favre, who skipped out of last season's Pro Bowl, will likely skip the flight to Hawaii once again in 2009. That means one of the deserving snubs -- Rivers, Pennington, or Cassell -- will likely get an invite.
With that said, it's still an unfair popularity contest. |
