Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney played nine games this year before he was lost for the season with a foot injury. His primary skill is rushing the passer, and his season ended with a grand total of 3.5 sacks, meaning he's tied for 73rd in the league in that category. And he led all defensive players in Pro Bowl voting among fans.
So it's official: I hate democracy. In theory, yeah, it's nice, give the fans a vote in the Pro Bowl. In practice, sorry, the fans are morons if they vote for a guy who's out for the year and wasn't even having a great year before he was injured.
Pro Bowl selections are made by a combination of votes from fans, players and coaches. I don't necessarily want to see the fans lose their votes, but I do want to see them at least make some pretense of knowing what they're doing before voting. Otherwise, Pro Bowl balloting is a joke.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-19-2007 @ 8:11AM
Zappatista said...
How old are you? You are just now realizing what a joke every "all-star" ballot is? Year after year in baseball it is a joke, I mean they didn't even have Granderson on the ballot this year, because Sheffield took the other outfield position. Big Papi getting voted in as a first baseman (i don't have the stats right here with me) and he couldn't have started 30 games there.
Just like high school my friend, popularity will rule the day!
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12-19-2007 @ 8:51AM
Joe B said...
Jonathan Ogden made the Pro Bowl with only 8 starts so far this year. One less than Freeney.
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12-19-2007 @ 9:23AM
Juannie said...
Pro Bowlers and All Stars are a joke once the zealots (fans) get involed and thats not to say the sports writers get it right either. It's all so subjective. Heck, dozens of media types were convince Lebron was'nt "All NBA" last year. Nuff said.
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12-19-2007 @ 9:40AM
Caleb Page said...
You missed the point my friend. I don't think you have an analytical skill in evaluating football. Given the year that Tom Brady has if he had played only 5 games because of injury he would be voted in. Fans like myself vote for a player based on the player's skill and the greatness that he is in the position he plays. If he was not a good player Indi would not have paid that kind of money. Please check your facts.
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12-19-2007 @ 11:22AM
edge3281 said...
It looks like Freeney had a bad season when you look at one stat... In reality he might of had his best season as a pro. You have too look at every stat and sometimes you have to take play into consideration instead of shear stats. He was much better verse the run this season and he had a TON of QB Pressures... Which in my opinion are better than sacks. These force the qb to throw before he wants to and leads to turnovers.
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12-19-2007 @ 11:31AM
Jackson said...
@Caleb Page:
Freeney is a great player, absolutely. But he was hurt and was having a down year, which means he shouldn't be in the pro bowl this year. By your reasoning, the selections should work one of two (extremely flawed ways):
Once a player with "greatness" comes along, they should be in the pro bowl every year, no matter what their stats are this year.
Or they should be in there because they have a huge contract, so clearly they deserve to be there.
no. and no. and i think MDS miiiight have an analytical skill in evaluating football. maybe thats the reason he's the main NFL guy on this site. and why he works for football outsiders. or maybe you're right and he's an idiot. yeah, its probably that.
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12-19-2007 @ 2:04PM
observer said...
There's nothing that can be done about it. The media, in their small territorial cocoons, are naturally biased toward those they see play the most, "Their Teams". Therefore exposure is overwhelmingly slanted. That NY hall in Copperstown is evidence of that. The Fred Lanes don't stand a chance. The most overrated position in all of sport is MLB for Chicago or New York!
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12-20-2007 @ 11:50AM
Jonathan Green said...
I don't believe Michael David Smith has ever watched a football game. He just looks at the stats after. If he would, he would see that Freeney is double teamed every play. This allows for others to make plays. Even if he doesnt get the sack, he is often causing problems in the backfield. Plus, if we really want to talk about somebody getting in because of their name, let's talk about Ray Lewis
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12-22-2007 @ 11:19PM
Jokatech said...
Dwight Freeney is a loosing argument because he has had an effective season nontheless, but there are countless players who do not belong in the pro bowl this year and unless your a damn fool you can't deny that. The fact that Urlacher along with Derek Anderson is not going and Fred Taylor shows that there is alot of imbalance. Urlacher should definitely go over Freeney and I'm a Colt's fan. I don't care which way you slice it, Urlacher was probably the overall best MLB this season and he is the main reason why the Bears had a shot at the playoff until the very end. Some decent players were snubbed out by sucky stars.
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