The last two days have seen the NFL consumed by two mysteries. First, how did Bill Belichick get snubbed as a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Second, how did rookie QB Shedeur Sanders, with seven TDs and 10 INTs, make the AFC Pro Bowl roster?
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Yes, 33.33 percent of Shedeur’s candidacy is dictated by fan voting. Still, the majority of the decision-making power remains with players and coaches. This has led many fans to question the logic behind the rookie QB being selected over Aaron Rodgers and Trevor Lawrence, who are officially not nursing injuries, unlike Patrick Mahomes, Bo Nix, Daniel Jones, and others.
Well, we now have some clarification on why Rodgers was left out in favor of Shedeur, with none other than Cam Heyward providing the answer.
In the latest episode of Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Rodgers’ teammate for the 2025 season began by congratulating Shedeur for his debut Pro Bowl nod. “Big Props to him for making it there,” he said.
When Heyward’s co-host argued how unfair Sanders’ selection is over the likes of Aaron Rodgers, especially from a statistical point of view, the Steelers DE didn’t hesitate to accept that take. But Heyward went on to remind fans that right before the playoffs, Rodgers had been nursing a wrist injury, which almost ruled him out for the postseason.
And that’s why Heyward argued that Rodgers, like T.J. Watt and Jaylen Ramsey, snubbed the 2026 Pro Bowl Games out of choice. “I am pretty sure Aaron declined it. I would think there’s no (other) reason… you know, two of our other Steelers have been dealing with injuries all year… T.J. Watt, Jaylen Ramsey… both guys were kind of nicked up throughout the year. So they decided not to go,” Heyward revealed.
Heyward’s admission, while admirable and honest, also speaks about a bigger concerning trend: the Pro Bowl has lost its prestige and charm. The 2011 AFC Pro Bowl roster had Tom Brady as the starter with Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers as reserves. Today, we either have popular unproven stars like Shedeur Sanders making the roster or the likes of Lamar Jackson snubbing the opportunity.
Simply put, the players just don’t want to be involved in the Pro Bowl anymore.
Heyward, once again, was honest enough to acknowledge this harsh truth, but he also came up with solutions like format changes and more player recognition schemes to revive the interest.
“Like what if you had big man flag?… Or like Pro’s versus Joe’s. Like, there is a million things you could do better that could have draw people to like draw players to the game. Not just fans, like I think we have great fans show out, but you got to get the players,” Heyward said.
“I would also like to see different positions highlighted in the Pro Bowl… we need a position for nickels and dimes… a position for the nose tackle because the nose tackle is so different. You also need to um have more positions on special teams. I think there’s more than one guy that could be really good at special teams that is deserving of being on a Pro Bowl roster,” he added.
Heyward ended his list of suggestions with a solution aimed at preventing undeserving candidates like Shedeur Sanders from making the Pro Bowl: strip fan votes. “I love fans voting for players, but it is incomplete. I would much rather have it as former players and coaches vote on who they think is deserving of being in the Pro Bowl,” he said.
As seen in Bill Belichick’s case, it is not necessary that former players, GMs, and coaches always make the best decisions. Still, it appears to be somewhat of a lesser evil than Shedeur Sanders getting a Pro Bowl nod over Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, and Trevor Lawrence solely due to his popularity among fans. Agenda is debatable; lack of merit is not.
