Columns

Here, 'team' is the true star

Nobody made it. Not Brooks and not Barber. Not Garcia and not Galloway. Not Jermaine and not Josh.

By GARY SHELTON
Published December 19, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] Ronde Barber has two interceptions this season, tied for 62nd in the NFL. But interceptions have always been only a part of Barber's play.

Nobody made it. Not Brooks and not Barber. Not Garcia and not Galloway. Not Jermaine and not Josh.

Nobody.

At first, the only reaction possible is confusion. How can this be? How can the NFC South Division champion be snubbed? How can a team that is third in the NFL in defense (and tied for first in scoring defense) get shut out?

In the name of Don Ho, how can the NFL hold a Pro Bowl without the Tampa Bay Bucs?

So go ahead. Work up a good lather if you want. Mix in a little disappointment. Maybe some old-fashioned outrage.

Eventually, however, you will come to this reaction to the Bucless Pro Bowl:

When you think about it, it's actually kind of fitting.

All along, the beauty of this Bucs team has been its ability to shine without stars. It is a team of overachievers, a bunch of grinders and grunters whose best moments are not defined by statistics. Given how the Bucs snuck up on everyone this year, why wouldn't they sneak past the voters, too?

Oh, I am sure that if you are Derrick Brooks, who has made 10 of these things, or if you are Joey Galloway, who has never made a one, then Tuesday's Pro Bowl announcement must have been disappointing. That's probably true for Jeff Garcia and Ronde Barber and Josh Bidwell and Jermaine Phillips, too.

In an odd way, however, this was the nicest thing you could say about the Bucs as a team. They have won a division title, and they have more than doubled their victories from a year ago, and somehow, they seem to have done it without a singular great performance leading the way.

That said, yes, it was a little jolting to look at the Pro Bowl list and not see a Buc player. In recent years, the Pro Bowl has loved the Bucs. Over the past 11 seasons, 57 Tampa Bay players have been named (after the previous five seasons resulted in only one). Even in last year's four-victory debacle, three Bucs made the Pro Bowl.

This year? Zip. There are 49ers on this team. There are Bears. There is a Cardinal. For crying out loud, there is a Dolphin. But there no Bucs. As for that NFC South title? It evidently didn't impress anyone. There aren't any other players from the NFC South, either. As far as the Pro Bowl voters were concerned, the NFL South might as well have been playing checkers. Come to think of it, the Falcons would have been better off.

Still, we are talking about the Pro Bowl here, an exhibition reserved for those with fat numbers or familiar names. It's hard to work up a great deal of umbrage. In other words, don't argue which Bucs should have made it; argue which could have.

Garcia? Around here, fans know what he has meant to the Bucs' turnaround. But Garcia is tied for 17th in touchdown passes and is 18th in passing yardage. That won't wow someone in Funny Bone, Ark. (Just a suspicion, but once the quarterbacks start dropping out of the Pro Bowl as usual, Garcia will get his chance to go.)

Galloway? He's 37th in pass receptions. That won't get a guy elected, not even when he's on the verge of his third straight 1,000-yard season.

Brooks? Yes, Brooks deserved to go this year. He has had his best season in three years and, according to the NFL's unofficial stats, only four outside linebackers have more tackles. However, when a man misses election for the first time in a decade, as Brooks did last year before eventually making the team as an alternate, it can suggest to voters that he's on a downhill slide. The suspicion here is that that, along with the lack of splash plays, left Brooks on the outside.

Barber? He has two interceptions, tied for 62nd in the NFL. But interceptions have always been only a part of Barber's play.

Bidwell? He's the guy who really deserved to go. Still, the 49ers' Andy Lee averaged five more yards per kick and had nine more kicks inside the 20. Hard to argue with that.

Phillips? He has been a force against the run, and he has made highlight hits. And someone will have to go to the Pro Bowl instead of Sean Taylor. Still, a lot of players get to the Pro Bowl in their second year of merit. Phillips might be next year's safety.

Whom else would you argue for? Barrett Ruud? He's 11th in the league in tackles, but nine of the people in front of him are inside/middle linebackers. Earnest Graham? He's 23rd in rushing. Greg White? He's 21st in sacks.

In other words, the Bucs have had a lot of nice little seasons. They haven't had anything worthy of a luau.

Poor Tampa Bay.

The playoffs will have to do.

[Last modified December 18, 2007, 23:17:20]