Again, the Pro Bowl Balloting Is by Rote

Six years ago, Lomas Brown was trying to figure out the Pro Bowl voting.

“Everyone tells me I’m one of the best left tackles in the NFL, and I’ve never made the Pro Bowl,” he said. “Why not?”

Brown didn’t make it because the Lions weren’t very good then and didn’t play on Monday night. But he was told that once he made it, he’d be on it forever.

Voila. The Lions got better that year, Lomas Brown made the Pro Bowl and he hasn’t missed since. This year, newly signed with Arizona, he backs up William Roaf and Erik Williams at offensive tackle on the NFC team, his seventh straight year.

Roaf, Williams and Brown.

None has had a very good year, certainly not as good a year as Bob Whitfield of Atlanta, whose only notoriety came last Sunday when he got into a shouting match on the sidelines with Bobby Hebert. Whitfield plays for Atlanta, 3-12 and in disarray, so it doesn’t matter what kind of season he’s had, he won’t make the Pro Bowl.

Instead, Roaf, Williams and Brown are on the list and they probably will stay on it until they retire or get hurt -- yes, Roaf is on 3-12 New Orleans, but he got his reputation early and he’s kept it. And even an injury sometimes doesn’t keep people off -- A.J. Duhe made the Pro Bowl in 1984 despite missing all but four of Miami’s games.

“I remember going and being embarrassed to be there,” Merlin Olsen, the former Ram, once said. “It’s hereditary. Once you make it, they’ll never take you off.”

However, Emmitt Smith isn’t having an Emmitt Smith year and didn’t make the NFC team despite 1,119 yards and 15 touchdowns. One reason is injury, the other is the decline of the offensive line.

Yet four of the Cowboys’ five offensive linemen made it -- Williams, Nate Newton, Larry Allen and Ray Donaldson. The consensus in Dallas and elsewhere: only Allen deserves it and Mark Tuinei, the one guy who isn’t going to Honolulu, is the second most deserving.

Here is why these things happen.

1, The players who vote rarely pay attention to anyone but their opponents.

2, The only other players they watch are the ones who play Monday night games, not Sunday night, because half of them are traveling home.

3, When in doubt, they vote for players on winning teams.

That’s most obvious on the offensive line, particularly center, where guys like Donaldson and Bart Oates have made it long after their prime.

Oates made it in 1993, when he wasn’t even the Giants’ starter -- he was splitting time with Brian Williams. Williams, incidentally, would have been a much better choice than Donaldson this year, but he plays for a 6-9 team, not the Super Bowl champions from Dallas.

It also happens at other positions, like cornerback.

So Deion Sanders, who’s having a good year, not a great one, made the Pro Bowl, but Darrell Green, who at 36 is having an excellent year, didn’t. Green used to be a regular, but when Washington went downhill, he disappeared from national television and people figured a guy on a losing team couldn’t be very good.

What that really means is that players and coaches are just like the rest of us -- they see Jacksonville’s Tony Brackens play like he did on Sunday night and think Brackens plays that way every week. Brackens is good, but he’s not yet, as someone on ESPN suggested, the second coming of Lawrence Taylor.

So that makes Al and Frank and Dan probably the biggest influence on Pro Bowl because everyone watches Monday night football.

But Monday night football emphasizes stars and “stars,” -- big name guys having good or bad years. John Madden and Matt Millen and Phil Simms pay less attention to reputation and more to performance.

So maybe Madden, Millen and Simms (not to mention Mike Ditka, Joe Gibbs and Tom Jackson) should vote for all-Pro.

“Three of those four guys from Dallas they voted to the team are overweight,” Ditka said last Saturday. “Larry Allen’s the only one that deserves it.”

That’s it.

Let those guys choose the Pro Bowl.

PRO BOWL ROSTERS

The teams selected for the 1997 NFL Pro Bowl to be played Sunday, Feb. 2 at Honolulu (x-starter, y-first-time Pro Bowl selection):

NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

Offense

Wide Receivers--x-Jerry Rice, San Francisco; x-Herman Moore, Detroit; y-Isaac Bruce, St. Louis; Cris Carter, Minnesota.

Tackles--x-Erik Williams, Dallas; x-William Roaf, New Orleans; Lomas Brown, Arizona.

Guards--x-Larry Allen, Dallas; x-Randall McDaniel, Minnesota; Nate Newton, Dallas.

Centers--x-Kevin Glover, Detroit; Ray Donaldson, Dallas.

Tight Ends--xy-Wesley Walls, Carolina; Keith Jackson, Green Bay.

Quarterbacks--x-Brett Favre, Green Bay; Troy Aikman, Dallas; Steve Young, San Francisco.

Running Backs--x-Barry Sanders, Detroit; xy-Terry Allen, Washington; Ricky Watters, Philadelphia.

Fullback--Larry Centers, Arizona.

Defense

Ends--x-Reggie White, Green Bay; xy-Tony Tolbert, Dallas; William Fuller, Philadelphia.

Interior Linemen--x-John Randle, Minnesota; xy-Bryant Young, San Francisco; Eric Swann, Arizona.

Outside Linebackers--x-Kevin Greene, Carolina; xy-Lamar Lathon, Carolina; Ken Harvey, Washington.

Inside Linebackers--x-Sam Mills, Carolina; Hardy Nickerson, Tampa Bay.

Cornerbacks--x-Deion Sanders, Dallas; x-Aeneas Williams, Arizona; Eric Davis, Carolina.

Safeties--x-LeRoy Butler, Green Bay; x-Merton Hanks, San Francisco; Darren Woodson, Dallas.

Specialists

Punter--y-Matt Turk, Washington.

Kicker--y-John Kasay, Carolina.

Kick Return Specialist--y-Michael Bates, Carolina.

Special Teamer--y-Jim Schwantz, Dallas.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE

Offense

Wide Receivers--x-Carl Pickens, Cincinnati; xy-Tony Martin, San Diego; Tim Brown, Oakland; y-Keenan McCardell, Jacksonville.

Tackles--x-Gary Zimmerman, Denver; x-Bruce Armstrong, New England; Richmond Webb, Miami.

Guards--x-Bruce Matthews, Houston; x-Will Shields, Kansas City; y-Ruben Brown, Buffalo.

Centers--x-Dermontti Dawson, Pittsburgh; Mark Stepnoski, Houston.

Tight Ends--x-Shannon Sharpe, Denver; Ben Coates, New England.

Quarterbacks--x-John Elway, Denver; Drew Bledsoe, New England; y-Vinny Testaverde, Baltimore.

Running Backs--xy-Terrell Davis, Denver; x-Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh; Curtis Martin, New England.

Fullback--Kimble Anders, Kansas City.

Defense

Ends--x-Bruce Smith, Buffalo; xy-Alfred Williams; Denver; y-Michael Sinclair, Seattle.

Interior Linemen--x-Cortez Kennedy, Seattle; x-Chester McGlockton, Oakland; Michael Dean Perry, Denver.

Outside Linebackers--x-Derrick Thomas, Kansas City; xy-Chad Brown, Pittsburgh; Bryce Paup, Buffalo.

Inside Linebackers--x-Junior Seau, San Diego; y-Levon Kirkland, Pittsburgh.

Cornerbacks--x-Dale Carter, Kansas City; xy-Ashley Ambrose, Cincinnati; Rod Woodson, Pittsburgh.

Safeties--x-Carnell Lake, Pittsburgh; x-Steve Atwater, Denver; Blaine Bishop, Houston.

Specialists

Punter--y-Chris Gardocki, Indianapolis.

Kicker--y-Cary Blanchard, Indianapolis.

Kick Return Specialist--David Meggett, New England.

Special Teamer--y-John Henry Mills, Houston.