Mahomes, Hunt, Kelce are top 10 vote-getters for Pro Bowl, a game they’d rather miss

The Chiefs are well represented in fan voting for the all-star game players prefer to avoid.

Three Chiefs —quarterback Patrick Mahomes, running back Kareem Hunt and tight end Travis Kelce—are among the top 10 vote-getters for the Pro Bowl.

Add Tyreek Hill is the top return specialist when votes are counted by position.

Why do players want to stay away from the Jan. 29, 2019, game in Orlando, Fla.?

Because that means their team did not reach the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl is played a week earlier, filling the football void between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl.

But as a popularity contest, it’s fun to see Chiefs players recognized for their stellar seasons.

Mahomes leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 37 and yards with 3,628. Hunt ranks third in total touchdowns with 14 and is sixth in rushing yards per game at 74.9. Kelce’s 67 receptions rank ninth.

Mahomes’ vote total of 459,325 is second overall to Saints quarterback Drew Brees at 487,400.

Hunt is ninth overall in total voting at 293,209 but is fifth among running backs. Receiving more votes are the Rams’ Todd Gurley, James Conner of the Steelers, the Giants’ Saquon Barkley and Alvin Kamara of the Saints.

Kelce is 10th, and the top tight end, at 283,104.

Fan voting will continue online and on web-enabled mobile phones at NFL.com/ProBowlVote until Dec. 13.

Kansas City sports fans have a history of supporting their teams in fan voting. Four Royals were voted into the starting lineup for baseball’s 2015 All-Star Game, and at one point during the balloting eight Royals were the leading vote-getters at their positions.

During the final two weeks of 2019 Pro Bowl voting — Nov. 29-Dec. 13 — fans will also be able to vote directly on Twitter. To cast such a vote, fans would tweet the first and last name of the player, the player’s official Twitter handle or hashtag using the player’s first and last name.

All of these methods must include the hashtag #ProBowlVote.

The final roster is determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 players for the game. Players and coaches will cast their votes on Dec. 14.

Blair Kerkhoff

Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.

This story was originally published November 22, 2018 at 12:42 PM.