Game Day Thoughts

Yes, the Pro Bowl is a game. An All-Star game. A fun game.

"My life is a big chunk of greatness."
     -Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas III

That's nice. Thomas is a great safety. Maybe the best safety in the game today. He was selected to play in today's game but he's got a bigger game to play next week.

No Minnesota Vikings players were selected or added to the 2015 Pro Bowl. That should murder the viewing numbers. The Vikings have been shut out of the Pro Bowl on only one other occasion in their 54-year history, 1983. That season sucked. Finishing a season 2-6 can get a team shut out of postseason honors. Defensive end Doug Martin was the one player that deserved consideration. This year's version of the Minnesota Vikings was far different from that 1983 team. They exceeded expectations. They were 7-9 but that was about 3 wins more than most expected. Maybe 6 more wins after running back Adrian Peterson was booted from the team. New coach. No quarterback. No Peterson. No Pro Bowl players.

There should have been two Vikings players in this Pro Bowl. Harrison Smith was one of the best 2-3 safeties in the league this season. He should have been on the roster even before Earl Thomas III made it to the Super Bowl. Defensive end Everson Griffen should have joined Smith in Arizona. There's J.J. Watt and then there's the rest of the defensive ends. Griffen was at the top of the rest of the defensive ends. There was a 5-6 game stretch in the middle of the season in which Griffen was damn near unstoppable. One of the worst aspects of the Pro Bowl selection process is that some players have to have at least one Pro Bowl-worthy season before they actually make it to the game. Griffen spent all of his first four seasons looking for snaps behind Jared Allen. This should be the season that puts Griffen in the minds of voters. Smith has actually been deserving since his rookie season. His biggest obstacle is that he plays the same position as Thomas and Eric Weddle. No one knows what's keepiing Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David out of the Pro Bowl. He's one of the best defensive football players in the league. He has an All-Pro nod. He was ranked #35 on NFL Network's Top 100 list. He's yet to make it to a Pro Bowl. It's a mystery.

A lot of people bitch about the Pro Bowl. Despite all of that bitching the game still gets a lot of viewers. People watch the game and then complain about it. That's a puzzle. Everyone forgets or simply fails to understand that the Pro Bowl is an All-Star game. An exhibition game. It's for fun. It will never approach the real game intensity that all the critics seem to expect. Now, the effort put forth by nearly all of the players a few years was even lower than your most lazy walk-through. It was pathetic. In over 60 Pro Bowls that was the only game to truly stand out. It was an exception. It was still enough for the NFL to change the way that the game is played. They even made up a new word. "Unconferenced." No more NFC or AFC in the Pro Bowl. All of the players are tossed in a pile and teams are selected like the old days on the playground. The teams are selected by a former NFL legend. For a Vikings fan missing Vikings representation in the Pro Bowl this is a fine thing. Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter is one this year's former legends. The other is Michael Irvin. Carter is further assisted by fellow Hall of Famer and former Vikings teammate John Randle. Excellent!

Go Team Carter!