After I watched the Colts beat the Jets on Sunday, it occurred to me that Colts tight end Dallas Clark would not be available to take his spot in the Pro Bowl. And knowing that Zach Miller was a Pro Bowl alternate, when I read that Miller would be packing his bags for Miami, it made sense.
Unfortunately, the Miller they were refering to was Heath Miller; the tight end for the Steelers. When the starters were announced, I could detail several examples that made a good case for Zach Miller being a starter over Dallas Clark or Antonio Gates. But I couldn’t disagree with the choices because both Gates and Clark performed well enough to earn it. Heath Miller, on the other hand, didn’t.
The arguments I presented in favor of Zach Miller being considered were the fact that he had more yards per catch than Dallas Clark and outperformed Antonio Gates in both meetings between the Raiders and Chargers. And he did this while having JaMarcus Russell throwing the ball to him for nine games and the combination of Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Frye and Russell for the remaining seven games. All the while, the Chargers and Colts each had Pro Bowl and MVP quarterbacks respectively throwing to Gates and Clark.
Heath Miller had a Pro Bowler throwing to him as well in Ben Roethlisberger for the reigning Super Bowl champion Steelers. And despite the stability and luxury that brings with it, Heath still had inferior numbers to Zach.
Zach had more receiving yards, yards per catch and catches over 20 yards than Heath. And let’s not forget that Zach was forced to stay in and block more often than Heath because of the Raiders porous and oft injured offensive line. Oh yeah, and Heath Miller was tied for the NFL lead in fumbles with two. Zach had zero fumbles this season.
There is no excuse for the NFL choosing Heath Miller over Zach Miller. None.
Oh and by the way, Kyle Vanden Bosch was chosen as the alternate for Dwight Freeney instead of Richard Seymour despite Seymour having more tackles and more sacks than Vanden Bosch. Toss that in with Janikowski being snubbed after his historic season, and something really stinks.
So I hate to pull the discrimination card but perhaps this is just another example of the color barrier in the NFL. Those colors being Silver and Black.
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ALSO SEE:
- Janikowski shut out of rightful Pro Bowl nod
- Kaeding choke job prove Seabass is TRUE All-Pro
- Condo Added to Pro Bowl squad
- Two Raiders in Pro Bowl
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