Pro Bowl Games Voting Now Open
The NFL officially opened Pro Bowl voting today, and 29 Eagles players are on the ballot.
Those eligible to be voted into the Pro Bowl include QB Jalen Hurts, RBs D’Andre Swift and Kenneth Gainwell, C Jason Kelce, and WRs AJ Brown and DeVonta Smith, among others.
Several rookies and first-time Eagles players are on the ballot, including DT Jalen Carter, P Braden Mann, LB Nicholas Morrow, and S Kevin Byard.
Assuming the Eagles do not make the Super Bowl, players voted into the Pro Bowl will attend and participate in the Pro Bowl Games during the first week of February. The Pro Bowl Games culminate in a flag football competition on Sunday, February 4. Teams that participate in the Super Bowl do not attend the Pro Bowl due to the Super Bowl occurring the following week.
Fans can vote for players by going to ProBowl.com/vote, or by voting directly on the Philadelphia Eagles website at https://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/pro-bowl-games/vote/. Fans will also be able to vote on “X” (formerly Twitter) later in December.
Player selections will be determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches, with each group’s vote counting as one-third toward determining the all-star players who will be selected to this year’s Pro Bowl Games, according to the announcement. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its Pro Bowl or equivalent teams. NFL players and coaches will cast their votes on Friday, Dec. 29. In total, 88 players will be selected, 44 each from the NFC and AFC.
The complete list of Eagles players up for voting are:
- QB Jalen Hurts
- RB D’Andre Swift
- RB Kenneth Gainwell
- WR AJ Brown
- WR DeVonta Smith
- WR Julio Jones
- TE Dallas Goedert
- T Lane Johnson
- T Jordan Mailata
- G Landon Dickerson
- G Cam Jurgens
- C Jason Kelce
- DE Josh Sweat
- DE Brandon Graham
- DT Jalen Carter
- DT Jordan Davis
- DT Fletcher Cox
- ILB Zach Cunningham
- ILB Nicholas Morrow
- OLB Haason Reddick
- CB Darius Slay
- CB James Bradberry
- SS Reed Blankenship
- FS Kevin Byard
- K Jake Elliott
- LS Rick Lovato
- P Braden Mann
- Punt Returner Britain Covey
- Special Teamer Josh Jobe
While selection for the Pro Bowl remains an honor for players, the Pro Bowl itself has evolved in recent years, largely due to its public perception as one of the worst games in the league. Originally a full-fledged tackle football game played in Hawaii between the best players of the NFC and AFC, the Pro Bowl game itself was originally the last game played during the season; it is still statistically considered Week 5 of the postseason by the NFL. Since the game was an exhibition game having no impact on standings or other things, players would not substantially benefit from actually playing in the Pro Bowl, so they would perform simply to avoid injury. This led to a degradation in the quality of the game in recent years that led to an iconic on-field moment by an NFL official when former NFL Referee Ed Hochuli proclaimed that there were in fact penalties in the Pro Bowl.
The NFL has taken steps to revitalize interest in the Pro Bowl over the years, first by moving the game to occupy the empty week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl and changing the location of the game, to, more recently, converting from an exhibition tackle football game to a series of skill competitions that culminate in a flag football game.
