Over the years, the Pro Bowl has largely lost its luster. It went from a game that had meaning for the players and was actually exciting to watch after the season — and then between the conference championships and the Super Bowl — to being completely unwatchable. Then, last season the league switched things up with the Pro Bowl format, making it more of a skills challenge.
Therefore, the Pro Bowl doesn’t have as much meaning anymore.
But to be voted in by the fans means a great deal to the players.
For Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt, he’s moving closer and closer to being voted in again.
Though voting has been open just two weeks, Watt remains the AFC’s top vote getter at outside linebacker, according to a press release from NFL Communications.
Watt is also the top vote getter overall, edging out Dallas’ Micah Parsons.
Watt is a five-time Pro Bowler and has been selected every season since 2018, his second season in the league. He’s a lock to make it for a sixth time, as he is second in the NFL with 14 sacks, behind only Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Khalil Mack with 15.0.
In the 2024 Pro Bowl Games vote through two weeks, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa leads the NFL with 129,783 votes. San Francisco running back Christian McCaffrey (100,008), Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud (96,274), Miami wide receiver Tyreek Hill (87,355) and San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy (84,613) round out the top five vote-getters.
Outside of Watt, the Steelers have three special teams players in the top 10 of position voting through two weeks.
Long snapper Christian Kuntz sits eighth in voting at his position and is fourth in AFC voting at the position. Kuntz’s position in the voting has not changed from last week.
Punter Pressley Harvin III has cracked the top 10 at the position in votes, sitting sixth overall. He is fourth in the AFC at punter in Pro Bowl Games votes. Special teams captain Miles Killebrew, who has two punt blocks on the season and had one Thursday night against the Patriots, sits fifth overall in special teams voting and is second in the AFC.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, who was ninth at safety after one week of voting, fell out of the top 10. So did kicker Chris Boswell, who was 10th last week.
The player selections for the 2024 Pro Bowl Games will be determined by the vote of fans, players and coaches, with each group’s vote counting as one-third toward determining the players who will be selected to this year’s Pro Bowl Games, according to the NFL. NFL players and coaches will cast their votes on Friday, Dec. 29.
Fans can continue to vote as much as they want to help send their favorite players to Orlando for the Pro Bowl Games until Monday, Dec. 25 across a variety of platforms, including ProBowl.com/vote, on team websites and on social media.
