Considering the diminished value of the Pro Bowl over the past decade and change, including scrapping the full padded all-star game in 2022, Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Leonard Williams has tried to exercise indifference after being passed over in voting year after year.
After all, why does being named to a Pro Bowl roster when there isn’t a game and the voting process has been shown to be a popularity contest time and time again actually matter?
But despite those efforts of detachment, after learning that he had not been selected for the Pro Bowl roster on Thursday, Williams can’t help himself but to be aggravated. Even if the honor has lost much of its luster, it still carries significant weight on a resume, and missing out again following arguably the best season of his 10-year NFL career left the veteran dismayed while speaking with reporters from the locker room prior to Thursday’s practice.
“It’s pretty disappointing, if I’m being honest,” Williams said. “There’s been another year I had in the league where I had like double digit sacks and didn’t go to the Pro Bowl and after that year, I pretty much told myself it’s all fluff and fan voting and stuff like that, so I pretty much tried to trick myself into thinking it doesn’t matter.”…