Chiefs Pro Bowl reaction: Praise for selections, disappointment for snubs
An NFL locker room is rarely completely happy or satisfied with its Pro Bowl selections. The players selected feel great. Those overlooked feel snubbed.
Andy Reid addressed both reactions Wednesday, one day after six of his Chiefs were named to the AFC team for the Jan. 26 game in Orlando.
The six — quarterback Patrick Mahomes, wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman, tight end Travis Kelce and defensive linemen Frank Clark and Chris Jones — were part of the story. Two others didn’t make it in spite of their seemingly qualifying bodies of work this year — safety Tyrann Mathieu and tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
“Everybody can’t make it,” Reid said. “I’m happy for the guys that did. I’m partial. I think Tyrann is playing as good as any safety in the National Football League right now, maybe as good as any defensive player in the (NFL) right now. He sure is well-deserving.”
“And Mitch, that’s two years (of being overlooked), maybe more than that, but the last couple of years he’s been playing really good football. I want them all to get in, but that’s not realistic.”
Mathieu, Schwartz, kicker Harrison Butker, fullback Anthony Sherman and punter Dustin Colquitt were named as Pro Bowl alternates.
Kelce, Jones, Clark and Hardman, as a return specialist, were named starters. Mahomes has made the team for the second straight year. Kelce was chosen for the fifth year. Jones and Clark are Pro Bowlers for the first time.
Voting is done by fans, players and coaches, with each group counting for one-third of the vote.
Mathieu said he didn’t know why the voting went the way it did. The free safety spots went to the Steelers’ Minkah Fitzpatrick and Earl Thomas of the Ravens.
“It doesn’t really matter,” said Mathieu, who was an All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection in 2015 with the Cardinals. “At the end of the day, all of us want to be considered great.”
Schwartz now has the opportunity to pull off a rarity for the second straight year. He wasn’t one of the three tackles named to the AFC team last season. But he was one of two tackles named to the NFL All-Pro team after the season ended.
According to Pro Football Focus, Schwartz is the second-highest graded tackle in the AFC this season.
Hardman is the fourth player from the Chiefs in the past five years to be named to the Pro Bowl in the year he was drafted. The others: cornerback Marcus Peters (2015), Hill (2016) and running back Kareem Hunt (2017).
“It’s a great honor,” Hardman said. “We have bigger goals, but it’s a great accolade to have and I’m grateful for the people who voted for me.”
The Pro Bowl is Jan. 26 in Orlando, and the idea is for no Chiefs players to participate. The game is played the week before the Super Bowl, and players for the conference championship teams don’t play in the annual all-star game.