Trent Williams is the Redskins’ lone Pro Bowl selection (Tim Sharp/Associated Press)
The Washington Redskins have been one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams this season and that was reflected in the Pro Bowl selections announced by the league Friday night. Left tackle Trent Williams was the lone Redskins player chosen.
Wide receiver Pierre Garcon, tailback Alfred Morris, linebacker Brian Orakpo and cornerback DeAngelo Hall were named alternates, the Redskins announced. They could be added to the Pro Bowl teams if other players withdraw.
The game is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Honolulu.
Williams returns to the Pro Bowl after he was selected to the NFC team last season but did not participate in the game after being hurt in a nightclub incident. Under this year’s new Pro Bowl format, players were not chosen with NFC and AFC affiliations. The selections were made on a league-wide basis and the players who were chosen will be drafted onto two teams later.
“It’s a blessing,” Williams said in a written statement released by the team. “I’m definitely excited about it… It means a lot. It lets me know my efforts didn’t go unseen. I know my teammates see it and my teammates feed off of it, but I’m definitely proud to see that my peers around the NFL recognized that also.”
Williams said earlier Friday he wasn’t sure if he’d be picked.
“I don’t know…. Given the season we had, [it’d be] hard to be disappointed” by being passed over, Williams said Friday afternoon at Redskins Park. “To be looked at as tops at your position, you’ve got to at least win. We haven’t won. So if you’ve got to put in overall team play into the decision process and the voting, nah, I wouldn’t be disappointed. But we’ll see. It’s gonna be interesting.”
The Redskins have a record of 3-12 entering Sunday’s season finale on the road against the New York Giants. They’re on a seven-game losing streak and they’ve clinched last place in the NFC East.
Even so, Garcon being passed over was a bit of a surprise. He leads the league with his 107 catches. He broke the team record for catches in a season, formerly held by Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Monk, last weekend. Garcon said earlier Friday he wasn’t fretting about the Pro Bowl selections.
“Nah, I’m gonna be the same old guy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”
But Garcon also suggested he believed he was having a Pro Bowl season.
“Shoot, when you lead the league in catches, I guess, you know—when you lead the league in anything, I guess that’s the top of the league,” Garcon said. “So I guess that kind of helps. But it’s not really—it’s all about team record, votes and, you know, whoever votes for you. But the Pro Bowl doesn’t matter that much. Wins and playoff wins and what you do in the playoffs really matters more.”
Morris, who ranks fifth in the league in rushing, said earlier Friday: “I don’t care about that. I didn’t make it last year. If I make it this year, [it’s] nice. If I don’t, I’m not gonna care…. I don’t know. I just want to win, man.”
Orakpo has 10 sacks. Hall has four interceptions and has scored three touchdowns.
