Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason has taken to his personal web site to say he’s unhappy with being left off the Pro Bowl roster -- and to say he’ll use the snub as motivation for a big 2010.
“Initially, I had a lot on my mind, a lot to say,” Beason writes at JonBeason.com. “I had a lot of anger as well as disappointment.”
Beason makes a specific point of saying he doesn’t want anyone to perceive his words as a knock on either New Orleans’ Jon Vilma, who was chosen as the NFC’s backup inside linebacker, or on Washington’s London Fletcher, who was chosen as the NFC’s alternate. Beason doesn’t mention San Francisco’s Patrick Willis, who was chosen as the NFC’s starter in the middle.
But Beason makes it clear that, in his words, “I felt like I was shafted from the Pro Bowl,” and that when he found out he didn’t make the roster, it was “a very demoralizing feeling.”
Beason says he’ll play in 2010 in a way that will remove any doubt about his Pro Bowl worthiness.
“Maybe I should work out even harder and aim for being the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year and the Super Bowl MVP next year,” he writes. “This won’t be the last time you hear about Jon Beason being snubbed for the Pro Bowl. Because based on my play next year, they’ll still be talking about it.”
For as often as the Pro Bowl is dismissed as a meaningless exhibition, it’s nice to see how important it is to Beason -- and how thoughtful he is about how to react to being snubbed.