Despite having one of his worst seasons in a long time, Buccaneers QB Tom Brady still has a path to a spot in the very-broken Pro Bowl.
The Pro Bowl has become one of the most misunderstood aspects of the NFL. This “award’ has been used as a status symbol amongst players and in the discussion of contracts for years, yet the value of this popularity contest (that often works against teams like the Buccaneers) is not fully based on talent or how someone fits on their team or the league.
The Pro Bowl has exclusively become based on how recognizable someone is. A name gets you everywhere. A bad season means nothing in this voting process if you can get fans and the voters to recognize you.
That is what happened with Buccaneers quarterback this year.
Despite putting together one of the worst seasons of his career on an offense that has put fans to sleep more often than not, Brady still has a path to the Pro Bowl as an alternate.
This very thing happening shows just how broken the system is. Brady is great and has done a ton to help the Buccaneers, but he has done nothing to earn this honor this year.
Let’s call this for exactly what it is; Brady got lucky because of who he is.
Brady isn’t the only player to be in this situation, but he does make the problem very plain and easy to see.
Something like this truly can’t happen when the main goal is a fair process that is also used as a way to judge players against their counterparts across the league.
The Pro Bowl is broken. The NFL has to find a way to fix what should be a problem that never started in the first place.
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