Another year, another Pro Bowl snub for Sheldon.


When the Pro Bowl rosters were announced, I was looking to see how many Eagles were on the roster. Six made it onto the All-Star roster, but it was the two who did not make it that really stuck out to me.

Trent Cole, Asante Samuel, Jason Peters, Leonard Weaver, DeSean Jackson, and David Akers were all voted onto the team (with Jackson actually making it twice -- something never done before), and all were deserving.

However, the absence of Sheldon Brown and Brent Celek continues to show that the Pro Bowl is nothing more than name-recognition and not actually looking at the numbers.

For instance, the two guys who made it ahead of Celek at tight end were Vernon Davis and Jason Witten. Davis deserves the Pro Bowl nod as he's put up some gaudy numbers this year even with inconsistencies at quarterback.

Witten, on the other hand, is currently sitting with a highly-unimpressive one touchdown. Not in just the last three weeks or in the latter portion of the season, but in the entire season Witten has accounted for exactly one touchdown.

His 88 receptions for 954 yards is certainly impressive, but this game is about getting into the endzone and it's something that Witten simply has not done this season.

It is, however, not without precedent. Back in 2o06, Witten was selected to his third straight Pro Bowl off of 64 receptions for 754 yards and one touchdown. If that is a Pro Bowl year then there are some backup tight ends who are being snubbed.

It proves that this is nothing more than name-recognition, but year after year we'll continue to point out who got snubbed in the hopes that the voting process will someday be refined. It won't, but we push forth anyway.

But back to Celek.

His 69 receptions and 875 yards aren't quite up to par with Witten, but his eight touchdowns dwarf Witten's one and should have gotten him a Pro Bowl nod. Not only is he putting up great numbers, but he's doing it in an offense with a lot of distribution and it's his first full year as a starter.

The kid got robbed in favor of a much more recognizable name; So is the Pro Bowl process.

Sheldon Brown will be joining Celek in the corner with the rest of the snubs, but Brown getting snubbed was expected. He's not a flashy guy who does a dance every time he makes a tackle or intercepts a pass, but he's a guy who gets it done better than most.

He's a shutdown corner in this league when very few of them exist. He's never had a lot of interceptions, but that was because quarterbacks did not want to throw his way, and receivers did not want to get in his path.

He's one of the few complete corners and the fact that he gets snubbed year in and year out is a travesty. Players will say that they don't care about the Pro Bowl and all of those other things, but when you're up for an honor that you feel you deserve and you never get it, it will begin to wear on your psyche -- at least a little.

Brown, outside of London Fletcher, may be the most underrated player in the league. The fact that neither of these guys have ever earned a Pro Bowl nod is a testament to the several flaws that occur in the process.

But hey, there's always next year, right?