05-12-2020, 09:45 AM
(05-11-2020, 03:18 PM)fredtoast Wrote: On Pro Bowl v All Pro
All Pro is a much higher honor because there is only one "first team" selected out of the entire NFL while the Pro Bowl could cover 80 to 90 players.
However it is a cop out to claim the Pro Bowl is just a "popularity contest". Both All Pro and Pro Bowl are selected by votes so both are popularity contests. And two-thirds of from Pro Bowl votes are from NFL players and coaches. So being selected to the Pro Bowl is still an honor.
I see a lot of people here try to claim the Pro Bowl is "meaningless", but that is just not true. It is still an honor to be selected and I don't see any real bad players getting selected.
The issue however is so many people "opt out" that guys who are the 3rd/4th/5th option are considered "Pro Bowlers" where as with All Pro you don't have opting out. If you accept your invitation as an alternate you are considered a Pro Bowler. Perfect example of this was Xavier Rhodes last year. Xavier Rhodes had such a bad season his own team benched him...he made the pro bowl after a ton of people backed out. In no world was Xavier Rhodes even a good starting corner in the NFL last year, but he was a Pro Bowler.
To your point there was a time it meant more, but players have been so disinterested in going for years it has killed what it actually means to be a Pro Bowler.
