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Fred Taylor talks about the NFL Pro Bowl and Shedeur Sanders making the All Star team.
Fred Taylor played 13 years in the National Football League from 1998-2010. All were with the Jacksonville Jaguars except the last two with the New England Patriots, where he was yet another high-end veteran to play for Bill Belichick but wasn’t on one of the teams that won a Super Bowl.
Randy Moss and Chad Johnson also come to mind.
What’s interesting about Taylor, however, is that despite rushing for 11,695 yards (thassalot) in his career, he made just one Pro Bowl. Given the current state of the Pro Bowl (the main difference is that they moved the “game” from the week after the Super Bowl to the week before the Super Bowl, meaning that no one in the Super Bowl is playing in the All Star game), you’d think he’d have accidentally made it on the roster a few more times just due to the attrition and apathy of others.
But, nope, he made just one Pro Bowl (2007) and it wasn’t the time he nearly ran for 1,600 yards. To be fair, that year in 2003, Priest Holmes rushed for 27 touchdowns and Jamal Lewis broke the 2,000-yard mark. So, I get it. It’s unfortunate for Taylor, but these things happen.
Now, the Pro Bowl has become an unmitigated joke and a mockery of itself. You know it’s bad when New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields declined to go to the Pro Bowl this year. Read that again. There was a world where someone thought that Justin Fields should go to any type of All Star celebration.
Fred Taylor has issues with the Pro Bowl
Oh, did I mention that Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders made the Pro Bowl this year? Find me one Browns fan that watched their games this season and thought, ‘this guy needs to be recognized for his greatness.’
Taylor recently talked to Hard Rock Bet about a variety of topics, but you can bet the topic of the Pro Bowl came up.
“This has been a topic for quite some time now,” Taylor said. “Even when I played, it was always considered more of a popularity contest. The reason I say that is that there are multiple seasons where I had better numbers than a lot of the guys who were voted ahead of me.
“Then again, I played in a smaller market, and it was heavily reliant on fan voting. So, the prestige of it died well over a decade or two ago. It’s been an issue since 2001 or 2002, really.”
His numbers absolutely prove him right.
Former Jaguars running back is happy Shedeur Sanders made the Pro Bowl
Not only should Sanders not be mentioned in the same sentence with ‘Pro Bowl,’ it’s not even a certainty that he’ll be starting for the Browns next year come Week 1. That’s how good he was. The much-hyped rookie didn’t even do enough to be secured a starting spot in 2026.
Hooray?
Still, Taylor is happy for him even though he knows the whole thing has become a clown show.
“But, I’m happy for Shedeur,” Taylor contineud. “Obviously, his popularity supersedes his performance, and that’s not a knock on him. He was only able to play seven games for an organization that, quite honestly, hasn’t been very good.
“I would like to see what Sanders does with a clean slate. He has to go in there and earn it from the onset of the year and play his way through a full NFL regular season.”
Fred Taylor says the Pro Bowl is a complete joke
So, what’s Taylor’s conclusion on the current state of the NFL Pro Bowl?
“But, the Pro Bowl is somewhat of a mockery and joke,” Taylor said, putting it mildly. “It’s a bit watered down, too.
“It’s turned into games now rather than a game of football. They said you can’t be physical. You can’t hit. So, players started to do the brother-in-law techniques. They would just show up and not take it seriously.
“That’s watered down the mystique of it all. But, I think across the board, no one is really entertained by it.”
With regards to the Pro Bowl: Make. It. Stop.
Micah Warren Micah Warren has been covering the NFL – and sports in general – for more than 20 years and he began writing for Heavy in 2025. His work has been featured in Yahoo!, MSN.com, Forbes, amNewYork, Off the Record, GCobb.com, Muck Rack, PR Daily, Blast Magazine and other sports and non-sports-related outlets. More about Micah Warren
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