The Commanders last week had two players opt out of the NFL Pro Bowl activities, why?
Wide receiver Terry McLaurin might have been suffering from an injury while playing, which helped him decide not to participate. After 17 regular-season games and three additional playoff games, perhaps McLaurin wanted to rest.
Daniels had just completed his first NFL season, which included 20 games. He was injured twice and had to leave games against the New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers.
“Hearing Jayden opted out almost wowed me more about him,” stated Santana Moss. “Wow, this kid has it, man. I’m not sure if it is like, ‘I am going to get my rest’ or ‘I’m going to dive back into things’ but it shows you he is mature beyond his years. He understands, ‘I made it, I am cool with that’ but going there for nothing? ‘I got other things I want to get to.'”
Fred Smoot quickly echoed Moss’ sentiments regarding Daniels.
“It says to me, ‘Yes, I made it to that pinnacle, but that ain’t what I want.’ He’s saying the Pro Bowl is not what he wants. He wants the Super Bowl. He and Terry said “Lets not go here, let’s get back to work’. That’s unbelievable maturity. That’s at the apex, the pinnacle of maturity.”
Well, in all honesty, we don’t know their actual reasoning until we hear from McLaurin and Daniels on why they skipped out of the Pro Bowl weekend. Moss and Smoot were successful players for the Redskins, yes, but the above quotes by the two might reveal more about their own hopes than the actual reasons.
Also, let’s face it: NFL players over the last three decades have ruined the Pro Bowl and its reputation. They loafed and pretended to compete, though it certainly didn’t fool most of us. The product became such a glaring “black eye” for the NFL; the NFL, after too many years, finally pulled the plug on the dying interest in the “game.”
If Daniels and McLaurin express they want no part of the non-professional, boring show it has become, they will find that is quite good enough for many of us.
