It’s the NFL Pro Bowl week, with Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders finding himself in another polarizing situation. The players have been selected, and with those from the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots not making it, replacements are called up.
Sanders was one of them. But why?
NFL Analyst Skip Bayless Points to Shedeur Sanders As a Tool To ‘Save’ the Pro Bowl
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye will miss the Pro Bowl games due to playing in Super Bowl 60 on February 8. While Sanders was called up to replace him at the games, many question the rookie’s selection, given his poor performance this season (56.9 PFSN QB Impact rating), which included a 3-4 record, 1,400 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
There might’ve been several candidates who were more deserving, but many also believe Sanders’s selection was more based on attraction than performance.
NFL analyst Skip Bayless champions this sentiment, albeit at the expense of the Pro Bowl’s reputation. Although commending Sanders for making the Pro Bowl in his rookie year, he sees a broader story at play.
“Congratulations to Shedeur Sanders, and to the NFL,” Bayless said on ‘The Arena: Gridiron’ on Monday. “Because, Richie, I get what you’re saying about [skipping worthy candidates to get to Sanders], and just on sheer performance, he did not deserve to be in the Pro Bowl because he started seven games, he went 3-4… Do I think he can make Pro Bowls legitimately on performance in the near future? I do.”
The Browns quarterback might not have played his way to the Pro Bowl, but he has an edge most players in the league don’t have: draw power. He rose to fame in college thanks to being the son of Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, who coached him at Jackson State and Colorado.
Shedeur built an unprecedented following that continued as he made it to the NFL.
“On draw, he’s a Pro Bowler to me,” Bayless said. “On interest generated, he’s a Pro Bowler to me. On magnetism, on eyeballs… People watch Shedeur Sanders. So, for me, the National Football League made a shrewd move, and I’m not sure how far down the list they needed to go because nobody watches it anymore. It’s a dying breed of a game. And now to save the game… Will I watch Shedeur play? Yeah, I’ll watch Shedeur play.”
The NFL is forced to deal with the lack of interest people have in the Pro Bowl, and using Sanders to lure more eyeballs should be a smart business move. Whether this holds up in the long term remains to be seen, as it’ll take more than one player to sustain the games’ appeal.
