Pro Bowl system is out of whack

Send a question to Peter King

Posted: Thu December 18, 1997

I've received a lot of questions lately about Pro Bowl picks. It's fine for you fans to complain. But I'm sick of all the whining from players who feel they got robbed. Hey, players: You have as much to do with this system as anyone. Change it.

As I wrote in my Sports Illustrated column this week, the Pro Bowl selection process is terribly flawed. One solution is to copy baseball and mandate that each team must have at least one player in the game. Even the worst teams have one man out of 53 who deserves the trip to Hawaii.

Ryan McNeil of St. Louis leads the NFL in interceptions this year. He was snubbed because the Rams are 4-11 and because corner is a strong position in the NFC. Atlanta DE Chuck Smith, another deserving player who was jilted last week, told me he sometimes feels there are two leagues—one for the starry teams and one for the Atlantas and St. Louises. "We all play the same game,'' he said. "We all deserve to be considered with the same respect. But every year there are a lot more Pro Bowlers from the winning teams.''

Players, fans and coaches currently have an equal share of the vote. Now, it's logical that players from winning teams would make up the majority of the Pro Bowl rosters. But it's illogical that, of 159 players on the combined rosters of Arizona, St. Louis and Miami (overall record: 16-29, not 0-45), not one will be in the Pro Bowl unless it's as a replacement for an injured player. And it's disgraceful that the Broncos, to protect their own players' chances of making the Pro Bowl, would vote for someone like Raiders backup QB David Klingler.

The AFC players' quarterback vote was a joke. Here's how it went:

1. John Elway, Denver
2. Drew Bledsoe, New England
3. Mark Brunell, Jacksonville
4. Kordell Stewart, Pittsburgh
5. Warren Moon, Seattle
6. Dan Marino, Miami
7. Jeff George, Oakland

What did Jeff George do to these players, rob their homes? As of this morning, George has more passing yards (3,673) and more TDs (28) than any AFC quarterback. Any system that has him seventh in balloting is one that the NFL must throw in the wastebasket.

On to the questions of the week.

With the emergence of RB Dorsey Levens, the Packers have a tough decision to make between Levens and Edgar Bennett, don't they? Which one will the Packers try to sign? Can they sign both?
—Matt Stuckel, El Paso, Ill.

I don't think the decision is even remotely challenging. They're both tough gamers. They're both team guys. But Levens will be a 4.3-yards-a-carry guy for his career; Bennett will be more like 3.8.

Levens is more explosive. And when I recently asked GM Ron Wolf about the Packers' offseason plans, he made it all but crystal-clear to me that Levens is the team's No. 1 priority. Bennett may be back because he might not have many options after recovering from surgery on his Achilles tendon. He hasn't burned any bridges in Green Bay and I could see him signing a low-base, incentive-laden contract with the Packers to back up Levens.

The post-Joe Gibbs Redskins have found a seemingly comfortable home in the lower echelons of the NFL. Norv Turner has yet to prove himself as an NFL head coach. GM Charley Casserly has proven himself—to be a poor judge of talent. Will we see a major shakeup in Washington this offseason?
—Bruce Jacobs, Fairfax, Va.

I'm not crazy about some of Washington's personnel moves either, but I think it's very unlikely that the Redskins will be shaken up to any degree this offseason. You live there, so you know how enamored the late Jack Kent Cooke was of Norv Turner. Turner was the football son the Redskins owner never had. In fact, Norv told me a few weeks ago his private line would often ring at odd times and it would be Cooke, just wanting to talk football.

One of those conversations occurred just weeks before Cooke died, and it concerned not giving in to defensive tackle Sean Gilbert and his agent over their silly contract demands. You probably noticed that the Cooke kin didn't give in to Gilbert. And I think it would be ridiculous to think that Turner is in any danger, whatever happens Sunday against Philadelphia.

What team has the best pair of receivers?
—David Gaucher

The best five receiving tandems in football:

1. Cris Carter-Jake Reed, Minnesota. Tough, physical and sure-handed.

2. Herman Moore-Johnnie Morton, Detroit. Brett Perriman is all but forgotten.

3. Jimmy Smith-Keenan McCardell, Jacksonville. Mark Brunell throws over their heads a lot, but these guys are great outfielders.

4. Rod Smith-Ed McCaffrey, Denver. Smooth, fast and gutsy. Elway's lucky to have found a couple of relative scrap-heap guys to wind down his career with.

5. Tim Brown-James Jett, Oakland. Even with Ray Perkins calling the plays.

The two best trios: Green Bay's Robert Brooks-Antonio Freeman-Derrick Mayes, and the Jets' Keyshawn Johnson-Wayne Chrebet-Jeff Graham. Brooks-Freeman is close for the top duos, but I saw Freeman personally lose that Philadelphia game early in the year by dropping everything in the free world.

There have been so many horrible games in the NFL this year. I believe free agency is the main cause of this. Is there any way to limit the number of free agents each team loses?
—Stephen Allman, Philadelphia

Lots of people—GMs, club presidents, fans and even some players—share your view, Stephen. Philosophically, you're right. The one thing free agency has done is make it impossible for teams to gain much momentum over the years because they can't keep the core of their rosters together. But you are like that guy who stood in front of the tank in Tienanmen Square a few years ago—heroic but overwhelmed by the economy and politics of the day. Anyone who saw that Chicago-St. Louis debacle last Sunday night would say you just have to give bad teams time to grow or they'll stay bad forever.

Is it conceivable for a player to jump from high school to the NFL?
—Thomas Przystal, Ottawa

Hmmm. Anything's possible, but the NFL would sue any kid who tried to get into the draft pool—and keep him in court until he's 43. The NFL is no good at winning lawsuits, but the league is good at making them last a long time.

Will Arizona's Jake Plummer and Philadelphia's Bobby Hoying be starters next season?
—Eric Rubenbauer, Lake Mills, Wis.

Yes. I think both guys are the opening-day starters for their teams in 1998. I also think Arizona—if it has one of the top two picks in April's draft—will trade down a couple of slots to take advantage of some team that wants Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf, the two best quarterbacks expected to be in the draft.

What will the Chiefs do when Elvis Grbac is ready to play? The Jacksonville debacle notwithstanding, Rich Gannon has played awfully well. What's your take on this upcoming QB controversy?
—John Roesle, Kansas City

No controversy. I saw Gannon Sunday in San Diego. Though he was feeling under the weather because of a slight flu, he threw only eight completions and looked downright average. Grbac isn't quite ready. If he plays against the Saints this week, it will only be a cameo. I look for him to sit the next two weeks, then be ready to play the first-round playoff game at home the first weekend in January.

As a lifelong, long-suffering Falcons fan, I don't know whether to laugh or cry this year. The first half of the year, we seemed to be headed towards getting a franchise-type player in the draft. That won't happen now. Is the Falcons' second-half success a mirage? What are Dan Reeves' plans for the team in the offseason, including the draft?
—Jay Wilson, Dothan, Ala.

Are the Falcons amazing or what? You know, there are people in the NFL who wouldn't let Dan Reeves within 50 yards of their football complex, because of the control-freak stories they've heard from his days in Denver and New Jersey. But the man can motivate, and the man can coach. Before the year started, I thought the Falcons were the worst team in football. Offensively, they still stink as bad as almost anyone, but their defense is one of the league's 10 best.

I think they've got to re-sign defensive tackle Dan Owens, who's contributed well to the strongest unit on the team. They've got to rebuild the offensive line in the draft and through free agency. You're right about the laugh-or-cry thing as far as the QB position goes, because Chris Chandler might get hurt changing bulbs on the Christmas tree this week and they have no quarterback of the future.

The Falcons, it turns out, are like about 10 teams in the league: They've got a mountain of problems, but lately they've played just well enough to mask them.

Previous editions of Peter King's Mailbag

Send a question to Peter King