Tim Tebow, 2012 Pro Bowl Voting Are Evidence Fans Shouldn't Have a Vote

Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow finished third in the Pro Bowl fan vote among AFC quarterbacks, once again proving that fans shouldn't have a vote in such things. 

Tebow garnered 632,912 votes to finish well behind first-place Tom Brady's 1,454,311 votes. Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger was second.

Don't get me wrong—Tebow has had a very good season and has certainly done his part in leading the Broncos to a 7-2 record as the team's starting quarterback.

That's all well and good, but the Pro Bowl is supposed to honor excellence at each position. Tebow is not worthy of such a distinction based on this year's performance.

While Roethlisberger and Brady are obvious choices, several players deserve to get in over Tebow. From a purely statistical standpoint, the Broncos quarterback just hasn't been very good. Tebow has completed 107 of 220 passes for 1,484 yards, with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.

His completion percentage of 48.6 percent ranks last among the 16 AFC quarterbacks who qualify, and his passer rating of 83.6 ranks sixth.

While I don't think Philip Rivers has had a Pro Bowl-caliber season, he has better numbers than Tebow. Rivers has completed 319 of 503 passes (63.4 percent) for 4,015 yards, with 23 touchdowns, 17 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 89.4.

One could argue that Miami's Matt Moore and Cincinnati's Andy Dalton are more deserving than Tebow as well.

If the argument for Tebow is that he has won games, shouldn't Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco get consideration? After all, he has "led" his team to 10 wins.

What about Alex Smith in the NFC? The San Francisco 49ers are 11-3 with Smith under center—does that make him a Pro Bowler?

Here is the problem with the fan vote: it becomes a popularity contest and not an actual gauge of who the most deserving players are. 

Tebow has really had a nice season, and he is a great kid. But winning games, being a good person and being popular shouldn't be the determining factor where the Pro Bowl is concerned.