Josh Sweat, a linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals, has voiced his frustration after being named only as a Pro Bowl alternate this year. Sweat spoke openly about his disappointment on Wednesday, highlighting what he sees as a disconnect between his performance and the final selection.
“Shoot, maybe I’m crazy,” Sweat said. “Y’all let me know if I’m crazy. I don’t know. I mean, I had my best season, and from the start of the voting to the end of the voting (I was top 5), I was top five in sacks, second in the NFC, number one in forced fumbles. I don’t know what else I could’ve done.
“Previous years, maybe you could’ve said, ‘He didn’t have the popularity. He didn’t get the fan vote.’ This year I was second in the NFC in fan voting. Know what I’m saying? What else did they want me to do? The popularity was there. You can say ‘losing team,’ but I had the popularity. What else could I have done? I am the only double-digit sack guy that didn’t make it, the one with the most forced fumbles, and then say, ‘This is the guy we’re going to leave out.’ I don’t care about a losing team. This is an individual thing. That’s why I am so upset.”
Sweat recorded 11 sacks this season—matching his career high—along with four forced fumbles and 12 tackles for loss while playing just half of Arizona’s defensive snaps due to their rotation at outside linebacker.
The three outside linebackers selected for the NFC Pro Bowl roster are Brian Burns from the New York Giants and Jared Verse and Byron Young from the Los Angeles Rams.
“Whoever made it, that’s not their fault,” Sweat emphasized. “They didn’t do it. I just don’t know how you look at all the people and say, ‘This is who we should leave out.'”
When asked about whether player and coach votes were responsible for him missing out on selection despite strong fan support—Pro Bowl teams are chosen based on equal weighting among fans, players, and coaches—Sweat replied: “we don’t know that.” He added: “The only thing they show is the fan vote. In previous years, I was first alternate pretty much every single time and I didn’t have the fan vote. This year, I got the fan vote and you’re going to tell me all of a sudden players and coaches don’t respect me anymore? Hell no, man. Stop playin’ with me.
“Before I get fined and all that other (expletive), I gotta chill out.”
Sweat previously made a Pro Bowl appearance as an alternate in 2021.
“I’m upset because the fans that actually went out and voted for me, it meant nothing at the end of the day,” he said. “And I am upset because there are only two individual (honors) you can get, Pro Bowl and All-Pro. And I got one taken away from me. I’m just flat out saying it.”
