The Associated Press All-Pro team was released today, but one question won’t be answered for another four weeks: Who voted for the All-Pros?
The Associated Press put together a 50-member panel of media members to choose the All-Pros, but the organization has not released the names of the voters. We asked the AP for the names of the voters and were told that those names won’t be released until all of the individual awards -- MVP, coach of the year, rookie of the year, etc. -- are announced on the day before the Super Bowl.
That seems strange. A news organization like the AP, and the individual media members who vote on the AP awards, should be transparent about the voting process and about the identity of the voters themselves.
Members of the media should also be willing to stand by their votes and subject themselves to scrutiny if their votes raise questions. And, frankly, a lot of the votes on the All-Pro team are questionable at best, and just plain wrong at worst. For instance:
Who was the one voter who did not vote Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown an All-Pro wide receiver?
Who was the one voter who chose not to place a punter on the All-Pro team?
Who was the one voter who chose to vote for Marshawn Lynch as a fullback, instead of a running back?
Who were the two voters who chose Evan Mathis as an All-Pro guard even though he was injured and missed half the season?
Who voted Seattle’s James Carpenter, a mediocre guard, an All-Pro?
Who voted for Clay Matthews as an All-Pro inside linebacker when he mostly plays outside linebacker?
Did the 13 voters who chose Elvis Dumervil as an All-Pro outside linebacker even know that Dumervil is nothing more than a situational pass rusher, or did they just vote for him because he had a lot of sacks?
We’ve asked the AP for more information about which voters cast which votes, but so far we haven’t received the identity of any individual voters. We’d hope that all of the voters would publicly identify themselves, and stand by their votes. Or, in some cases, see the error of their ways and distance themselves from their votes.