The Politics Of The Pro Bowl Vote

Now that the names of the 2008 Pro Bowl roster are starting to come out — complete with analysis, moaning and scratching of heads — I thought it would be pertinent to discuss how the players vote for this thing.

As some of you already know, votes are divided into thirds, with the media, fans and players all getting a share of the process. The fans usually vote for the names they hear on ESPN, the media usually votes for whomever is being talked about the most in magazines, and the players, well, they try and sabotage the whole thing.

Sabotage?

Sure. Maybe there’s a better word, just like NFP Fantasy expert Joe Fortenbaugh can pick a better jersey to wear to Eagles games than his 2003 Todd Pinkston jersey (at least it’s better than his Freddie Mitchell jersey). You see, the players vote, just like the fans, but they can’t vote for guys on their own teams.

Thus, the sabotage begins.

Let me explain. When I was a Redskin, we would break into groups by position. As a collective unit, we would talk, discuss, complain and figure out whom we wanted to play in Hawaii after the Super Bowl. Only one rule really stood out: NO COWBOYS.

Simple as that. There was no way possible we would vote for a Cowboys offensive player (defensive players vote for offense only). No chance. In fact, we would vote for anybody, and I mean anybody, who didn’t play in the NFC East, or would challenge our own guys such as Santana Moss or Clinton Portis. We wanted to see our own guys in the Pro Bowl, so we would write the names of guys who stood no chance of garnering enough votes, like Fortenbaugh’s boy Pinkston.

What about Buffalo? Well, it was more of the same. Absolutely, and I mean absolutely, we had one rule: NO PATRIOTS. Sorry, Tom Brady, but you were not going to get a vote from us. We tried our hardest to get Lee Evans across the water by writing in the names of a team’s third and fourth wideouts.

The same could be said for the respective offenses I played with. They voted for backups and role players on opposing defenses so we could get some votes (Not that I would, because I was one of the scrubs that the Patriots’ players probably wrote in). You see, it goes hand in hand, and it happens with every team across the league.

In saying this, when you take a look at the Pro Bowl roster today, you can be sure that this vote most likely came down to the fans and the media. Is it fair? No, it isn’t, but neither is the Pro Bowl. It has become a popularity contest, no different than the student council elections you had in high school. The discussions from TV talking heads will be heated, controversy will rain from the sky and the world will be in an upheaval because someone was left off of the list.

Please, this vote isn’t real anyway. The players try to rig it so their own guys make it, and the media, well, they really don’t know who or what they should vote for. If anything, the fans are the major players here. At least they watch the games.

However, remember this: The guys complaining on TV are the same guys who cast a vote.

Politics in the NFL. You gotta love it.

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