MVN - Most Valuable Network

Lee, Willis on Pro Bowl roster; Taylor voted posthumously

49ers punter Andy Lee has been voted as the NFC’s punter in the Pro Bowl. A much deserved recognition for Lee, who has been one of very few consistent players on the 49ers this season. In 87 punts, Lee is averaging 48.3 yards per punt. Thirty-five of the punts have been inside the 20, ten of those under the 10-yard line. With numerous three-and-outs by the Niners, Lee has had a workload of punts, but he has been spectacular in them.

Inside linebacker Patrick Willis has been selected as a reserve for the NFC, behind Seattle’s Lofa Taupu. Willis leads the league in tackles with 142. His rookie campaign has been impressive, with forced fumbles and a great knack for getting to the ball carrier. In a few years, or maybe even next season, Willis will be named with the likes of great linebackers like Brian Urlacher, Ray Lewis, and Shawne Merriman.

With a horrible season the team is having, this is a good bright spot. A lot of other faces, like Frank Gore, Vernon Davis and Nate Clements will return to the Pro Bowl. It’s just a matter of time when the team just gets together.

On another note. Sean Taylor has been voted as a starter by fans for the NFC. Taylor was murdered at his home during a robbery a few months back and the league has been remembering him with tributes and decals. This is an honor for Taylor, a player who was leading the league in interceptions. I think that the most important part of this is the fact Taylor was a great player, but turning into a great person. Everything he was doing up until his death was an attempt to right the ship that had gone off course.

With the fans voting in Taylor, it shows that the fans care about the message Taylor was trying to portray. Sure, he still was causing late hits and uniform violations, but a man with so much potential was taken away so soon. I usually hate fan voting because I feel that a majority of the votes are uneducated votes, that it has become a popularity contest. But I feel the fans did right this time. I don’t know what the NFC will do with the empty spot, but for the time being, it doesn’t matter.

Good job fans.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 18th, 2007 at 2:09 pm and is filed under Patrick Willis, Andy Lee, 49ers, Sean Taylor, Pro Bowl, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.