On Wednesday night the NFL revealed the final voting results for the Pro Bowl, something that caused more frustration than joy for Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans.
Mike Evans, who is having one of the best seasons of his career, made the Pro Bowl as a starter at wide receiver. It's the fifth time he's been voted in, but we'll refrain from calling it an honor since the other shoe that dropped reinforced just how hollow the Pro Bowl is as career accolade.
While Evans made it in -- and that's something to celebrate -- Antoine Winfield Jr did not. Even though Winfield is having a career year and has been consistently graded and ranked as one of the best safeties in the NFL, he was not among the 14 defensive backs who will be heading to Orlando next month.
Here's a list of defensive backs who were voted to the Pro Bowl this year:
• Sauce Gardner
• Patrick Surtain
• Jalen Ramsey
• Denzel Ward
• Justin Simmons
• Minkah Fitzpatrick
• Kyle Hamilton
• DaRon Bland
• Charvarius Ward
• Jaylon Johnson
• Devon Witherspoon
• Jessie Bates
• Budda Baker
• Julian Love
A player who is rated as the No. 2 safety in the NFL according to PFF, is not on that list. If there was ever a clear-cut case that the Pro Bowl is meaningless as a Hall of Fame measuring stick, it's this. Winfield ended up making it as an alternate, which is almost more insulting than not being named at all.
Antoine Winfield Jr had perfect reaction to Pro Bowl snub
It's one thing for Winfield to have not made the Pro Bowl despite having a career year, but vastly inferior players making it instead only adds insult to injury. Notably, Budda Baker getting into the Pro Bowl over Winfield should be a jailable offense -- but not any offense that Baker is facing this year becuase it wouldn't be stopped.
Here's a quick comparison of Baker and Winfield, just to hammer home to stupidity of this:
Sacks | INTs | TFL | FF | QB Hits | Solo Tackles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Budda Baker | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 50 |
Antoine Winfield Jr. | 5.0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 73 |
Yup.
Bucs fans weren't the only ones struggling to make sense of the bizarre Pro Bowl snub, Antoine Winfield Jr was perplexed. After the results of the vote were revealed, Winfield didn't try to hide how he felt on social media.
Hmm🤔
— Antoine Winfield Jr. (@AntoineWJr11) January 4, 2024
Even when he's not on the field he still finds a way to win.
Winfield's snub is just fuel on the fire in terms of the Bucs making this a season of revenge. Tampa Bay went from being called the second-worst team in the league to potentially hosting a home playoff game -- disrespect just comes with the territory.
This Pro Bowl snub, however, feels like a new level of disrespect.