If you were looking for an accurate reflection of the lack of respect the Seattle Seahawks receive nationally, just look at the Pro Bowl voting. Not one player has even cracked the top five in fan voting so far. Frankly, that is a travesty.
As hard as it may be to believe, not one member of the Seattle Seahawks has gotten even a modicum of respect in the fan voting so far. I get it, to some degree. When the team is 6-6 and the voting opens on the heels of a three-game losing streak, the first players that come to mind aren't going to be the guys hanging "L"s on the scoreboard. But not one Hawks player in the top five? And no others in the top 10? It's mind-boggling.
Fan voting by design is a popularity contest. That's how you wind up with situations like this. The Seahawks have a great fanbase - as if the 12s needed confirmation of this - but it certainly isn't the largest in the league, either. According to this nifty study published by Keegan Sullivan in 2022, the 12s rank eighth in the NFL among all fanbases.
The Seattle Seahawks deserve better than this ridiculous vote
Before you get your dander up, have a look at his research. It's pretty fascinating, for those of you who go for mathy stuff. Whether you accept that or not - and no one says you have to - it's indisputable that the Seattle metropolitan area ranks 15th in population in the U.S. That results in 14 teams with a far bigger potential fan base. And that helps in voting.
Naturally, successful teams get more votes for their players. It would be pretty strange if voting didn't work that, way, right? The best teams tend to have at least some of the best players. But some players on those teams benefit from rubbing shoulders with truly great players. This year, call it the Philadelphia effect. Both of the Eagles safeties are in the top 10 in voting, at least as of the NFL Network's Tom Pelissero's tweet on December 6th:
Expanded breakdown of Pro Bowl Games voting with the top 10 by position: pic.twitter.com/wN2aFH1Y8u
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 6, 2023
The halo effect is hurting the Seahawks chances
I don't think anyone would argue that Philadelphia strong safety Reed Blankenship doesn't deserve his votes. He's got 54 tackles, two interceptions, and has broken up six passes. Then again, he's allowed five touchdowns and a passer rating of 104.3. All this is via Pro Football Focus (paywall alert, sorry gang). PFF ranks him 19th among all safeties. Yet he sits second in Pro Bowl Voting. Don't worry, it gets worse. His free safety counterpart, Kevin Byard, is currently tenth in the voting.
PFF ranks him a lofty 46th in the league. He doesn't miss many tackles, I'll give him that - just 4.2 percent of his attempts. But maybe if he didn't allow 80.4 percent of targets for a passer rating of 110.9, he'd rank a little higher. Both players benefit from the halo of their team's record. It doesn't hurt that Philadelphia is the nation's seventh-largest metro area, either. They're both riding the coattails of Jalen Hurts, and that's the problem.
No, I'm not arguing that Jamal Adams or Quandre Diggs should make the Pro Bowl. But seriously, can someone please name 10 cornerbacks that they'd rather see on the field than Devon Witherspoon? PFF ranks him seventh among all cornerbacks. For that matter, are there really ten wide receivers better than DK Metcalf? Okay, maybe; he does have too many drops. But most egregious of all - at least in my mind - who are the 10 inside linebackers in the league who are better than Bobby Wagner?
Bobby Wagner, seventh? Rise up, 12s, and take action!
I'm not about to say that Wagner is great in coverage. He only had a couple of years when you could say that for his game. But in his 12th season, BWagz is still rated as the third-best run defender and the best tackler in the league at inside linebacker. He's also third in the NFL in stops with 49. Yet there he sits in eighth place in the voting. Clearly, the voters have no idea of what they're watching.
If they did, they wouldn't given Seahawks kicker Jason Myers as many votes as he has. Myers stands at seventh in the voting so far. And here I thought I was one of the few supporters he had left. I'm not knocking him, but he's missed seven kicks this year. Yes, four were past 50 yards, but he's simply been too streaky to be named to the Pro Bowl. Leading all Seahawks in voting - at least as far as ranking - is perennial fan favorite Nick Bellore. He ranks sixth on fan voting now.
If you want to address this nonsense yourself, here's the Seahawks link to the Pro Bowl voting site. If you're one of those weirdos who believe the Pro Bowl would be more fun with a few players from other teams, here's the link from the NFL. Alright 12s, you know what to do. Vote like you're electing an alderman in Chicago in the 1960s- early and often!