No one can blame the fans for Jeff Saturday’s surprising selection to the NFC Pro Bowl team.

The Green Bay Packers’ center was one of three Packers players voted to the NFC team, along with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and outside linebacker Clay Matthews. Rodgers is a starter, Matthews and Saturday are backups.

This is the sixth time Saturday has made the Pro Bowl in his decorated 14-year career, but the 37-year-old’s inclusion this season was a major surprise, because just last week he lost his starting job to Evan Dietrich-Smith.

Saturday led the fans’ voting at center, but that counts only one-third overall in determining Pro Bowlers. The other thirds are the voting by players and coaches. So Saturday had enough votes from those other two groups to finish second at center in the NFC, behind only Seattle’s Max Unger.

Fan voting closed early last week, and players and coaches voted late last week, so both groups had 14 games on which to base their votes. Ralph Cindrich, Saturday’s agent, offered a spirited defense of his client going to the Pro Bowl after the Packers signed him as a free agent in the offseason.

“When (the Packers) brought him in, they knew at 37 and his weight, he wasn’t going to blow guys out of the hole,” Cindrich said. “He was going to call your audibles on the line, he was going to keep your offense going, he was going to keep the camaraderie and everything else. It’s like saying the president, does he really deserve to be president? Well, you voted him in, that’s the process. So, hell yes he deserves to be in (the Pro Bowl). That’s me saying it.”

“I am disappointed for Josh Sitton; I think he should be there. It is disappointing for me, for him. I would love to be able to pass it to him. He is a tough player and has played very well all season. I respect the heck out of the way he has played and it has been fun to play next to him.”

Indeed. If non-players were nominatable, Barack Obama would be starting at QB and Joe Biden would be a WR alternate.

Holy cow, I just came up with a much better idea than the Pro Bowl. Politibowl. Parties are on different teams. I'd watch it.

Originally Posted by: Porforis 

We all suspected the Pro Bowl had some serious problems, but now it has been confirmed.

The voting process is flawed and must be fixed, and the game itself should be eliminated.

Nothing against Green Bay Packers center Jeff Saturday, who is a stand-up guy with an impressive NFL career resume, but he deserves a Pro Bowl berth this season about as much as I deserve a Nobel Peace Prize.

Saturday was one of three Packers named to the NFC team on Wednesday along with Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews.

Although Saturday served as an adequate stopgap in the middle of the Packers’ offense for 14 games, it turns out he isn’t even the best center on the roster, since he was benched in favor of Evan Dietrich-Smith last week.

For a six-time Pro Bowl player and 14-year veteran like Saturday, his Pro Bowl invitation is based more on popularity than performance. How else can you explain Saturday getting more votes than any other NFC center among fans, who account for one-third of the selection process?

There is nothing wrong with recognizing the best NFL players at each position, which is what the Pro Bowl is supposed to accomplish, but there has to be a better way to compile that list.

As for the game, held on the Sunday before the Super Bowl in Hawaii, it has degenerated into an embarrassing spectacle in which players go through the motions and attempt to avoid injuries.

“They have to do something about it, I think everyone is in agreement about that,” said Packers coach Mike McCarthy, a two-time NFC Pro Bowl head coach. “I had the opportunity to coach it last year and coaching it after the ’07 season, there’s clearly a drop-off in the game-day performance. It’s definitely an issue and there’s something that needs to be done. I don’t know what the answer is. I don’t even know what the options are.”

The best option is to end this charade and not play the game at all. The NFL can and should continue to honor the best players — assuming it devises a better selection method — but there’s no good reason to stage an utterly meaningless game.

Just because the Pro Bowl draws higher TV ratings than the Major League Baseball All-Star Game isn’t a good reason to keep it going.

The NFL wisely exterminated the College All-Star Game decades ago and did the same with the Playoff Bowl that pitted first-round postseason losers in a less-than-epic consolation game.

It’s time for the Pro Bowl to get tossed on that scrap heap of ill-conceived, manufactured NFL events.

The problem is players, fans and sports writers are all biased, positively and negatively. So it will never be perfect. But only the players and coaches voting would most likely be the most accurate.

As far as the game - it's a joke. There's no effort, and why should there be. Back in the day the extra money from winning really meant something to the players. But now it's like telling a centa-millionaire you'll give him give him a buck to pick up a six pack of beer. Also, players don't want to risk injury with that type of money on the line for their careers. I think everyone would be better served to just have a presentation banquet.

The HOF has somewhat gone this wayward also...see my sig.

Originally Posted by: PackerTraxx 

Point taken, but at least the players and coaches are more knowledgeable even though we as fans don't think so. You mean they can't go home until they vote?

Originally Posted by: PackerTraxx