For years, an invite to the Pro Bowl has been seen as a great honor that players openly accept with open arms. But on Monday, one star quarterback surprised everyone by declining an invite to the annual game.
Originally, the three quarterbacks that were named to the Pro Bowl in the AFC were Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Allen will be missing out on the Pro Bowl due to an injury and Lamar Jackson has also opted out of the game. And their replacements will consist of New England Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson.
Of these names, Drake Maye is quite clearly the biggest surprise considering he didn’t even have a full year as the starter under his belt in his rookie season. But it turns out that Maye was only named to the game because one of his peers in the AFC opted to decline an invite as a replacement.
On Monday, Texans beat reporter DJ Bien-Aime reported that Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had declined an invite to be a replacement for the game.
“I think this is the start of an offseason of him putting his head down and getting to work,” wrote Bien-Aime in an explanation of Stroud declining the invite.
Don’t expect #Texans QB C.J. Stroud to be at the Pro Bowl.
He was invited as an alternate but declined per source.
I think this is the start of an offseason of him putting his head down and getting to work.
— DJ Bien-Aime (@Djbienaime) January 27, 2025
The Texans did see their season end at the hands of the Chiefs in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. So perhaps Stroud is simply worn out after what was a long season for the Texans.
Still, it is a shock to see someone turn down what is typically thought of as a great honor in the NFL.
Maybe this shows that the Pro Bowl perhaps doesn’t mean what it used to for players in the NFL. Or maybe it shows that an 18-week regular season is too strenuous to expect players to want to take part in an additional Pro Bowl week on top of any action they see in the playoffs.
Either way, Stroud will look to rebound on what was a pretty drastic sophomore slump this season from an individual standpoint.
