Pro-Bowl process is broken, take fans out of it.

[Patler]

Jeff Saturday??? Huh?
Great veteran, fantastic career; but a Pro-Bowler in 2012?
Seems you should have to be good enough to keep your job as a starter for that.

[Patler]

I'm in favor of players, coaches and pro scouts voting on a roster, then skip the game.

[Cheesehead Craig]

I saw that and started laughing. He was possibly the worst OL on a rather below average OL.

[pbmax]

Fans are only a 1/3 of the voting.

[Patler]

Fans are only a 1/3 of the voting.

Ya, but they are the worst as far as "reputation voting". I'm not sure how the "1/3" is actually counts, but articles in the past have implied that a very heavy fan vote for a player is difficult to overcome.

It would be interesting to see how some specialized voting would turn out, for example:

"O" players vote only for "D" and vice versa;
DBs vote for WRs and vice versa;
DLs and LBs for OL and RBs and vice versa
DC's voting for QBs

especially if teams could vote only for players on teams they played against. It's probably impractical, but would still produce interesting results.

[KYPack]

Fans are only a 1/3 of the voting.

Yeah, I say take the Pro Bowl out of the Pro Bowl.

[denverYooper]

Meh. There's only one Bowl that really means anything.

[red]

we've known for years that the o-line is all about name recognition

you only ever hear an o-linemans name mentioned if he screws up

[Lurker64]

I think you might be okay if you just restrict the fan voting to positions whose quality is, in part, reflected in stats.

Let fans vote on QBs, WRs, RBs, TEs, Pass Rushers, sure.

But when fans vote for OL, DBs, etc. they're frequently just going purely on "I've heard of that guy" (I mean, how many people here can name, off the top of their heads, the best guards in the AFC).

[mmmdk]

I think you might be okay if you just restrict the fan voting to positions whose quality is, in part, reflected in stats.

Let fans vote on QBs, WRs, RBs, TEs, Pass Rushers, sure.

But when fans vote for OL, DBs, etc. they're frequently just going purely on "I've heard of that guy" (I mean, how many people here can name, off the top of their heads, the best guards in the AFC).

I've heard of such a guy that just heard of that guy that he voted for!

[MJZiggy]

I think part of the problem is that voting starts too early in the season and when it starts, you don't really have a feel for how this year is going so you vote according to what you remember from last year. Some of us remember last year better than others...

[HarveyWallbangers]

Ya, but they are the worst as far as "reputation voting". I'm not sure how the "1/3" is actually counts, but articles in the past have implied that a very heavy fan vote for a player is difficult to overcome.

It would be interesting to see how some specialized voting would turn out, for example:

"O" players vote only for "D" and vice versa;
DBs vote for WRs and vice versa;
DLs and LBs for OL and RBs and vice versa
DC's voting for QBs

especially if teams could vote only for players on teams they played against. It's probably impractical, but would still produce interesting results.

I'm not sure how difficult they are to overcome. Kuhn and Woodson led the fan vote but weren't even first alternates. Saturday had to get a pretty sizeable chunk of the votes by the players and coaches. I think everybody is to blame for that one. Of course, OL voting is the worst for "reputation voting"--even amongst the players. No hard numbers to base the vote off of.

I'd change the criteria, but there are people that complain when fans aren't given a vote. Personally, I don't care enough one way or the other.

[Patler]

Interesting comments from Raji today. Something I wasn't aware of, and even he as a player wasn't aware of until now.

“What most people don’t realize is, teams send in their votes – as a team,” said Raji. “Your individual vote doesn’t really matter too much. Each team presents a Pro Bowl ballot. I didn’t know that until this year, actually.”

Apparently, Raji takes the voting very seriously, and asks teammates who face players at different positions who are the best players that they play against.

[Patler]

I'd change the criteria, but there are people that complain when fans aren't given a vote. Personally, I don't care enough one way or the other.

I've always felt that having the fans vote is rather silly, if the team is supposed to be comprised of the best as opposed to most popular. I don't like the fan votes in any sport. But, the game itself has become a rather useless undertaking. I don't remember the last time I actually watched one.

[Jimx29]

Saturday admits he's not the most deserving choice for the Pro Bowl