a closer look Two prominent Redskins never have been tabbed as Pro Bowl starters. For fullback Mike Sellers, his streak has ended. London Fletcher, however, was passed over once again.
The normally soft-spoken linebacker did not take the most recent news well, calling himself "the Susan Lucci of the NFL" after being passed over for the 11th consecutive year. He has made the team before as an alternate.
"I don't know if it was because I wasn't a first-round draft pick, I don't do some kind of dance when I make a 10-yard tackle, I don't go out and get arrested," he said yesterday. "I believe in playing the game the way it's supposed to be played.
"I've done that for 11 years, but because I'm not going out causing a lot of controversy . . . causing a lot of strife on my team, I don't garner a lot of attention."
Fletcher plays middle linebacker, one of the most valuable positions on the field. The NFC starting spots for inside linebackers this year went to Carolina's Jon Beason and Patrick Willis of San Francisco. Pro Bowl spots are voted on, with a third of the vote going to three different groups - fans, players and coaches.
Fletcher wasn't the only one touting his cause yesterday. Other teammates rallied around the decade's leading tackler.
"I'm shocked that London Fletcher did not go," quarterback Jason Campbell said. "I think it's mostly what people do in the two or three weeks before voting."
Sellers said, "His worst day is most linebacker's great days, so for him not to go is a shame."
None of the players on the Redskins defense, currently seventh in the NFL in points allowed, were picked to the Pro Bowl. The offense, ranked 29th in points scored, had four players selected - Sellers, Clinton Portis, Chris Samuels and Chris Cooley.
"That's kind of amazing, but we've had some good individual performances on offense," Cooley said. "I don't think that's been the problem this year. We just haven't been able to put together a great team effort."
Cooley exemplifies that - he has a career-high 73 catches but just one touchdown.
Samuels, an offensive tackle, will miss the game with a partially torn right triceps that will take five to six months to recover.
Portis will head to Hawaii for the second time, his first as a Redskin, and he'll get to bring his lead blocker, Sellers, with him.
The two were laughing and joking around yesterday - with Portis noting the tradition of Pro Bowl veterans ordering room service and charging it to the first-timers.
"My whole trip is going to be on Mike," Portis said with a laugh. "I'm not going to do him too bad - somewhere between 5 and 10 thousand [dollars]."
None of it fazed Sellers, who in the eighth year of his career finally got the call. The fullback has been so used to disappointment that he planned a hunting trip for Tuesday, the day the players were notified. He wanted something to take his mind off the bad news he was expecting.
As he returned from the trip, he noticed that his phone had been "blowing up" with messages congratulating him. He called his wife, who he said dropped the phone and ran around the house screaming.
Yesterday, he got to relive the moment for reporters, a rare sight in front of the fullback's locker.
"This is the first time I feel like Jason Campbell, with all the cameras in front of me," he said. "It's a little weird."
Moss fined: Receiver Santana Moss was fined $10,000 by the NFL for his touchdown celebration last Sunday - he used his towel to shine his shoe.
Contact Michael Phillips at (804) 649-6546 or mphillips@timesdispatch.com.
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