The Pro Bowl means very little these days, mainly because the Pro Bowl has gone the way of the dodo bird.
As a result, the honor has lost much of its sizzle — as evidenced by the fact that this year’s “teams” were announced on a Tuesday morning, with little fanfare or buzz.
When asked by reporters on Tuesday whether Eagles defensive tackle Jordan Davis should have made the NFC roster, Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio provided an accurate assessment of the voting process.
“He should have [made it], for sure,” Fangio said regarding Davis. “I think they need to form a committee for the Pro Bowl, get a couple retired coaches, couple retired personnel guys, couple retired players that will take pride in it and they name it. . . . Everybody and their mother’s got a vote.”
Currently, fan voting is combined with player and coach voting to determine the team. Each counts as a third.
Fan voting now includes goofy Twitter gimmicks, including days in which the ballot box is automatically stuffed, with one vote counting as two. (Don’t give any politicians ideas, please.) Which means that fan voting is now more about engagement and clicks, and the teams with a larger following (like the Cowboys, who are already bragging that they have more Pro Bowlers than seven playoff teams) will benefit.
The whole thing has lost much of it significance. It barely has any current relevance (but for the players who get a bonus based on making the roster). If the NFL would choose make it a true honor and not a tool for cheap social-engagement farming, the process would ensure that a true bumper crop of players will receive proper recognition for their performances.
