DETROIT – Star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown is apparently furious that he wasn’t selected to the Pro Bowl this season, but the Detroit Lions should be secretly thankful.
St. Brown has been one of the most productive and consistent receivers in the NFL since the Lions selected him in the fourth round three years ago.
He caught 90 passes for 912 yards as a rookie, 106 passes for 1,161 yards last year, and has 112 catches for 1,371 yards so far this season.
Sure, it would be nice to see one of the team’s leaders rewarded for all he’s accomplished. But you know what’s better than accolades? Winning. And angry Amon-Ra St. Brown is a prime ingredient for winning.
We’re talking about a guy who literally memorized the name of every receiver taken before him in the draft because he was so determined to prove everyone wrong. And guess what? He’s been better than most of them.
Imagine what he’s going to do after being snubbed for an honor he definitely deserves? I wouldn’t want to be the defensive back guarding him on Sunday.
If the Lions play the Rams in the first round of the playoffs (which looks very likely), do you think St. Brown will be motivated to out-perform rookie Puka Nacua, who was named a Pro Bowler despite having 11 fewer catches, four fewer touchdowns, and just 74 more yards on a team with a worse record?
What if the Lions play the Eagles and A.J. Brown, who made the Pro Bowl with nearly identical stats? Or the Buccaneers and Mike Evans, who scored 13 touchdowns (to St. Brown’s nine) but didn’t come anywhere close to St. Brown in terms of catches and yardage?
St. Brown is a first alternate, so he might end up in the Pro Bowl anyway, but that won’t matter. The damage is already done.
He’s angry, and that’ll only help the Lions.