There’s been a lot of people throwing out the “Marques Colston is the best player to never make a Pro Bowl in NFL history” catch phrase as news has come out of his impending release. In theory I’ve fully embraced this designation because I absolutely love the guy. But I’m biased, so I wanted to dig deeper and find out if it’s really true. It turns out there’s a lot of really good players who never made the Pro Bowl, but I wanted to see how Colston stacks up against them.
Joey Galloway, WR (Seahawks, Cowboys, Bucs, Patriots, Steelers, Redskins)
I’m already less impressed with Galloway because he was never compelling enough to stick with one team. The fact that he played for 6 different NFL teams is crazy. The dude played 16 seasons and finished with 10,950 yards, 701 receptions and 77 touchdowns. It feels like half those scores came against the Saints. During his stint with the Bucs he repeatedly ripped the Saints’ defensive backfield to shreds. He had 6 1,000 yard receiving seasons but only went over 1,100 once in 2005. That was the year he probably most deserved to go when he finished with 83 catches for 1,287 yards and 1o touchdowns. Even today, that would get almost anyone in.
Compared to Colston, Colston has more receptions (711), a lot less yards (9,759) and slightly less touchdowns (72). Colston has also played in 6 less seasons. Colston has gone over 1,100 three times, and his best season was 98 catches for 1,202 yards and 11 touchdowns. I would say these two are very close as Colston and Galloway both have had 6 1,000 yard seasons.
I’m inclined to say it’s a push on this one.
Jim Plunkett, QB (Patriots, 49ers, Raiders)
Plunkett is most known for being a two time Super Bowl champion with the Raiders, as well as Super Bowl MVP once. There’s no doubt he’s cemented himself in the NFL history books. When you look at a TD-INT ratio of 164 to 198, though, it’s not that hard to understand why he never made a Pro Bowl. His career W-L record is also 72-72. The simple fact of the matter is that Plunkett played big in big games (8-2 career playoff record) but he was on ridiculous teams. His lack of Pro Bowls is a function of a lack of consistency throughout a season. Consistency has never been a problem with Colston in his career until the end.
Advantage: Colston
Plaxico Burress, WR (Steelers, Giants, Jets)
Burress played 11 seasons and went over 1,000 yards 4 times. He has less yards, receptions and touchdowns than Colston. His best season was 2002 when he had 78 catches for 1,325 yards and 7 touchdowns. Good player that had good seasons, but not quite the production of Colston.
Advantage: Colston
Ryan Longwell, K (Packers, Vikings, Seahawks)
It’s kind of crazy Longwell never made it. His 1,687 points are the most ever by a player that’s never made a Pro Bowl. Throughout his career he was an elite kicker. In his 16 year career he was a Pro Bowl alternate NINE TIMES (!!!) but never got in. In 2000, he had 3 game winners (two over 50 yards) and led the league in field goals and finished second in points. In 2004, he had 4 game winners. Between 2009 and 2010 he missed 3 field goals TOTAL in TWO FULL SEASONS (!!!). None of that was enough to get him in.
Advantage: Longwell
Chad Pennington, QB (Jets, Dolphins)
His career completion percentage of 66% was an NFL record until Drew Brees broke it in 2014. He won NFL comeback player of the year twice and finished second in the MVP voting in 2008. He also led the NFL is passer rating in 2002. What hurts Pennington more than anything else is that while he was always efficient and a terrific game manager, he was never exciting or explosive. He only passed over 3,000 yards three times. He just didn’t amass the numbers. That and his 89-81 career record were not that flashy. The Pro Bowl is about production, not efficiency.
Advantage: Colston
Ken Riley, CB (Bengals)
This one is really criminal. Riley was a 3 time All Pro. In 1976 he led the league in interceptions with 9, and that wasn’t good enough to get in. In his 15 year career, he only had less than 3 interceptions in a season 3 times. His 65 career interceptions is tied for 5th all time in NFL history with Charles Woodson. Woodson has been to 9 Pro Bowls. He has more career interceptions than Ronnie Lott, Darren Sharper and Ed Reed. Those three combine for 24 Pro Bowls. I love Colston but this just isn’t fair by any stretch.
Advantage: Riley
Amani Toomer, WR (Giants)
I’ll spare you the stats, but Toomer’s career write up looks very similar to Burress’s. Very good, a Pro Bowl snub no question, but not quite on Colston’s level.
Advantage: Colston
Jon Kolb, G (Steelers)
It’s really hard to quantify the worth of an offensive lineman. Kolb was widely viewed as the best o-lineman for the Steelers, though, at a time when they won 4 Super Bowls. Interestingly, Kolb competed in the World’s Strongest Man competition in 1978 and 1979 and finished 4th in the US both times. Kolb was named All Pro once, something Colston never achieved. Based on that and 13 years as a solid starter… I tend to side with the lineman.
Advantage: Kolb
Even if you want to disagree with me on some of these, I think it’s fair to say that Colston is without question a top 5 all time biggest Pro Bowl snub in NFL history. Saying he’s the best to never make it might be a stretch, though. The write up with Joey Galloway is really close, and I don’t think you can argue he’s more deserving than Ken Riley. I will concede that Kolb and Longwell are debatable, so you could argue Colston is the 2nd best player in NFL history to never make a Pro Bowl. Either way, Colston was screwed, it shows how flawed the voting system is, and what a joke the whole thing is.
It’s hard to see Colston go and he’ll be sorely missed. Thanks for all the memories #12.
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