It looks like Raiders quarterback Derek Carr is going to play in the Pro Bowl this season.
No, we haven’t gone back in time by a year and yes, the Pro Bowl is still the NFL’s year-end All-Star Game.
But because Tom Brady is almost certainly not going to play in the Pro Bowl — either because of his thumb injury (ligament sprain, 10 stitches) or his team making the Super Bowl — Carr, an alternative for the game, is probably going to wind up playing for the AFC team.
Carr’s backdoor Pro Bowl selection after an objectively mediocre (at best) season stands as not only the clearest indictment yet that the actual Pro Bowl game needs to be abolished and turned into an All-Star Weekend, but also as a big, ugly stain on the quality of play in the NFL — and particularly the AFC.