Huard: Seahawks QB Russell Wilson deserves better than Pro Bowl alternate

On December 10, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson set a new league record: his 73rd win — a 21-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings — marked the most wins ever by a quarterback in his first seven seasons.

2 Seahawks selected to NFL Pro Bowl, 7 named alternates

One week later, the NFL announced 2018’s Pro Bowl players. Wilson was listed as an alternate.

There’s stiff competition for quarterbacks this year, especially with the Saints’ Drew Brees and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes mounting MVP-caliber performances. But for 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard, Wilson’s vote as a Pro Bowl alternate just wasn’t enough.

The former NCAA and NFL quarterback tweeted about the snub:

Aaron Rodgers & Jared Goff are Pro Bowlers & @DangeRussWilson is not? Goff has thrown more picks in the last 3 weeks than Russ has all year. Rodgers coach gets fired on a team that’s built around his skill set. What am I missing here? Russ elevates and wins & it’s never enough

— Brock Huard (@BrockESPN) December 19, 2018

“I’m so sick and tired of Russell getting no respect,” Huard said on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk Wednesday morning. “Russell Wilson should’ve been a Pro Bowler. Instead, he has to look at Aaron Rodgers and Jared Goff be voted to the Pro Bowl, and not him, in a year when this team was supposed to be 4-12, and in a year where this was supposed to be a reboot, and in a year where this was supposed to be a turning over for Pete Carroll’s entire roster.

“Elite franchise quarterbacks don’t lose more than eight or nine games a season. They just don’t do it. The floor when you are Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger is seven wins. Wilson is at eight wins, and will more than likely going to get them to nine and, who knows, maybe even 10. And he’s going to throw for more touchdown passes than he has in his career, and he’s going to have the highest QB rating of his career, and he’s going to be big in big moments with fourth quarter wins. And yet it doesn’t matter. He’s going to get the short end, as he did yesterday.

“Russell’s won more games in his first seven seasons than any quarterback in the history of this league, and it doesn’t matter. All they care about, the national narrative, is what Russell doesn’t do.”

Huard’s co-host Mike Salk pointed out that Pro Bowl nods are often a sign of respect. Even though former Green Bay coach Mike McCarthey was fired and the Packers will miss the postseason, Salk said Aaron Rodgers will get a nod simply because he’s Aaron Rodgers, and is one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league.

“When is Russell Wilson going to be Russell Wilson?” Huard countered. “He’s just never going to get it because he doesn’t look the part and he doesn’t do it the way the others do. He’s the second-most efficient passer in the history of this league and the best winner. When will it ever happen? When will this league ever realize that this is the greatest winner this league has known and someone who in his first seven years has thrown more touchdowns than anyone other than Peyton Manning and Dan Marino?”

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