2012 Pro Bowl Voting: Fans Finally Give Credit to Players Who Deserve It

The fan vote for the Pro Bowl has been all tallied up, and believe it or not, the fans nailed it.

Oftentimes, people approach voting with a huge bias, ready to give the players they love more credit than those who truly deserve it. 

That wasn't the case this year, though, because rounding out the Top 5 in order are: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Calvin Johnson and Wes Welker. 

Well Done Fans

When you think of prolific players that have excelled all season long, these five guys definitely come to mind. I would put Brees ahead of Brady, but it's not a huge fan error or anything. 

Rodgers received nearly 130,000 more votes than Brady, and rightfully so. The Green Bay Packers quarterback has been on fire all season long, leading the NFL with a passer rating of 120.1.

Brees is second in that statistical category at 109.1, which goes to show how much more effective Rodgers has been this season. That's not to discredit Brees in any way, as he has also having a phenomenal season.

Perhaps the best stat for Rodgers, though, is his touchdown-interception ratio of 40-6. Prior to last week's game against Kansas City, Rodgers had thrown two or more touchdown passes in every game.

Johnson and Welker have been the two best wide receivers this season, and it's great to see fans got it right by giving them a ton of love.  

Welker leads the NFL in receiving yards and receptions, whereas Johnson leads all receivers with 14 touchdown catches. Both have been dynamic players for their teams this season, and if they weren't playing this year, their respective teams would take a major hit. 

Extra Love for Green Bay

The Packers have easily been the best team this season, and the fans honored them by voting a majority of them to the Pro Bowl. 

Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweeted how well the Packers did in the fan vote. 

It's tough to say who the most popular team in the nation is, but one can definitely make a case for the Packers. They would use that information, along with the fact that 17 Packer players were either first or second in fan voting, according to Jensen.

However, the Packers have proven they're the best team this year, and that's why there's nothing wrong with them dominating the fan votes.

Green Bay is loaded with top talent, and the reason the Packers were on a quest for 13-0 is because these stars have been shining bright all year long.

So them showing up everyone in the Pro Bowl fan vote is just fine because they've been doing that to nearly every team they've played. (Still in disbelief that the Packers lost to the Chiefs)

Moving Forward 

NFL coaches and players will do their voting on Wednesday and Thursday, and next Tuesday the Pro Bowl rosters will be announced on the NFL Network.

Of course, if the Packers make the Super Bowl, a number of other players will end up taking their place. I'm curious as to what you all think about having the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl these days, so drop a comment and let me know. 

Too many times the fans vote in players based off names and not what's been taking place this season. Kudos to the fans for doing the right thing. Typically fans can be naïve and over the top at times, but here they made the correct calls.