While it’s relatively low on the list of “things to really care about” the NFL is turning the Pro Bowl in to an absolute mess. By moving the illustrious to the weekend between Championship Sunday and Super Bowl XLIV, the league is essentially forcing all of its best player to make a decision of playing while injured, or playing just one or two weeks after getting bounced from the playoffs. In what was usually a reward for surviving the onslaught of the season, Goddell’s desire to move the Pro Bowl to the weekend before the Super Bowl is simply making a joke of a game even more unappealing.

What was usually a reward in the form of a relaxing and fun trip to Hawaii with their families is also becoming a potentially dangerous two week party in Miami that many players won’t even want to attend. Sure Miami is an appealing destination, but not when it’s packed to the brim with reporters, fans who can travel from all over the country, every single groupie known and unknown to players and countless other unattractive x-factors that will make Miami as inhospitable as when the NBA posted its All-Star weekend in Las Vegas.

Any player contending for the Super Bowl won’t be playing. So in the NFC count out Drew Brees, the most productive quarterback in the entire conference. Also count out his starting offensive guard, Jahri Evans who will be busy trying to figure out how to stop Dwight Freeney in the Super Bowl. On the defensive side of things you can kiss Jonathan Vilma goodbye along with Roman Harper and Darren Sharper.

You can also count out guys like Brett Favre who are simply too banged up to play. Frankly I’d be stunned if Steve Hutchinson, Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, Percy Harvin and Adrian Peterson even bother showing up in Miami to play in the Pro Bowl after losing a heart breaker in New Orleans on Sunday.

The losses of the playoffs are too recent for players to participate in what’s essentially a half-assed, full contact game. For others, it’s the injuries that make this game so difficult to play.


Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Gurode, Steven Jackson, Lance Briggs, Charles Woodson and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie are all guys that were voted in as Pro Bowlers but instead they’re going to sit out and pave the way for a bunch of lucky, undeserving replacement scabs to take their spot.

When we look at the list of 2010 Pro Bowlers in the NFC, we’re going to see some players that deserved it and others who cheated their why in via injury or players dropping out due to their presence in Super Bowl XLIV.

Perhaps the biggest snub of all in the NFC was Steve Smith of the New York Giants. With 1,220 yards and 8 touchdowns, Smith was the third best receiver in the NFC in terms of yards. He was beaten out by Eagles’ standout DeSean Jackson, but Smith will now play in the Pro Bowl thanks to Larry Fitzgerald’s injury.

At running-back, the biggest snub in my opinion was Ryan Grant, who was third in the NFC with 1,253 yards and 8 touchdowns. Even more bewildering was that Grant accomplished that feat with 282 carries. How DeAngelo Williams, who had only 1,117 yards and 7 touchdowns by comparison, got the nod over Grant is a poor decision to say the least.

While nobody can negate that Romo, who led the NFC with 4,483 yards is deserving of replacing Brees in the NFC, the addition of Donavan McNabb over Kurt Warner is appalling. McNabb had 3,553 yards on 267 completions and 22 touchdowns. Compared to Warner’s 3,753 yards on 339 completions and 26 touchdowns it should be an open and shut case.
The NFC has long been the bastardized little brother of the AFC in the past, but recently they’ve shown their moxy and the NFC Pro Bowlers should reflect just that. The fact that Warner and Grant weren’t recognized for their strong efforts this season, and were snubbed in favor of guys like McNabb and Gore makes the NFC roster an absolute joke. Even as -2.0 point favorites, this NFC roster is not a reflection of the 2009-10 season, which is what the Pro Bowl should be.

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