Michael Vick, you could understand. Vick has 990 yards rushing and a career-high 19 touchdown passes–numbers that merit NFC Pro Bowl selection.
Brett Favre would have deserved the benefit of the doubt if he were selected, even in an erratic season, for career achievement.
But Tony Romo?
If Romo is a Pro Bowl quarterback after eight starts with the Dallas Cowboys, then Rex Grossman is after 14 for the Bears. At the very least, Grossman earned the chance to be one of the two alternates and he wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Romomania has spread well beyond the Texas border and is impairing the judgment of NFL players, coaches and fans whose Pro Bowl choices each comprise one-third of the voting.
The only quarterback in the NFL to have surpassed a passer rating of 100 in seven games this season, Grossman deserved deeper consideration for leading the NFC’s most dominant team than a guy who has played half a season as Romo has.
Stop snickering.
If Romo had a similar completion percentage and seven passer ratings of 100 or higher after 14 games then, to paraphrase Dennis Green, go ahead and crown him. But until that happens, any league honors are based on projection more than production. He will end the season with 10 starts–62.5 percent of the season. In baseball, that would be like awarding a batting title to someone with 313 at-bats. Ten starts does not a season make.
Grossman has been in charge of a Bears offense that has scored more than 30 points seven times, the team’s highest total in a season in 50 years. He is 16-5 as a starter in his career and 12-2 this season, a statistic that isn’t always a good measure of a quarterback but one trotted out often when Romomaniacs point out the Cowboys are 6-2 under his cool right hand.
Romo does not make the Cowboys better any more than Grossman does the Bears, and who is more likely to take over a game by getting hot?
Seven Bears were named to the NFC Pro Bowl team Tuesday, the team’s highest total in 20 years. Cornerback Charles Tillman and tight end Desmond Clark are enjoying seasons good enough to argue the Bears warranted nine.
Grossman’s argument for being snubbed was not as defensible as his two teammates until the rosters were released to include Romo, a fine, young quarterback who simply has not played long enough to have earned the nod.
In his first eight NFL starts, Romo has completed 167 of 249 passes for 2,178 yards, 13 touchdowns and seven interceptions. It’s a good start. It’s not a Pro Bowl season.
Drew Brees and Marc Bulger, the two other NFC quarterbacks named, assembled Pro Bowl seasons and have reputations on which to stand. Nobody disputes that.
The third spot should have gone to Grossman, because his good games outweighed the bad ones that created such a civic crisis and nearly cost him his job.
Oh, Grossman was terrible in victories over Arizona and Minnesota and his poor play contributed to losses to Miami and New England. But he was the NFC’s most dominant offensive player during the first month of the season and regained that form last Sunday against Tampa Bay in a performance that earned him NFC player of the week honors.
Not to dismiss Grossman’s cover-your-eyes games, but even Pro Bowl quarterbacks lay the occasional egg. San Diego’s Phillip Rivers, for instance, is coming off a game where his passer rating was 12.4.
Bears coach Lovie Smith was asked if he saw any “glaring omissions” on the Pro Bowl roster and Grossman was one of the three Bears players he mentioned. Tillman and Clark were the other two.
Smith did not bring up the Pro Bowl voting nor was there much of an outcry at Halas Hall about Grossman getting overlooked.
Ultimately, it means nothing because the Pro Bowl is a non-competitive game that’s one giant excuse for players to enjoy a trip to Hawaii.
But a selection implies respect around the league, and Grossman indeed has earned every bit as much as Romo has this year after saving his career with two straight solid games.
“It has been a roller coaster, but we can definitely finish on a good note and that’s all that matters–how you finish,” Grossman said Wednesday.
More proof that the offense has finished strong came from Grossman feeling compelled to defend the Bears’ defense at this stage of the season.
Because the Bears have given up 58 points in their last two games, it’s legitimate to wonder if the offense can carry the team in the playoffs and win a high-scoring game if necessary.
Put in the bizarre spot of standing up for his defense, Grossman stood up for it just as it did for him a couple of weeks ago.
“Our defense is going to step up and play,” he said. “Those were just a couple of great plays by Tampa, but our defense is the best in the league.
“I don’t ever go into the game [and say] `Now we have to score more points or now we have to score fewer points.'”
Yeah, but now Grossman can say so and nobody will question it.
Just as nobody should doubt Grossman being as worthy as Romo for a February vacation to Waikiki Beach once they compare the bodies of work.
“I know he had a couple of games he didn’t play as well,” Smith said of Grossman. “But he’s having an outstanding season.”
You could call it a Pro Bowl season.
And should.
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dhaugh@tribune.com
