Largely due to the fact that very few people actually care about the NFL Pro Bowl these days, even when it comes to the majority of the league not wanting to take part in it, there are always a bunch of seemingly random NFL players who get added to the Pro Bowl rosters simply because they meet the criteria of being on an NFL roster, having a pulse, and not having anything better to do.
Think guys like Tyler Huntley and Shedeur Sanders. Even Justin Fields, who would certainly fit into that category, turned down his "invitation" after an abysmal season with the 3-14 New York Jets.
Five years ago, NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace was literally an NFL Pro Bowler.
Bubba Wallace beat Joe Flacco to the NFL Pro Bowl
Of course, circumstances were a bit different; it was a virtual game that year, due to various COVID-19-related restrictions, and it was contested on Madden NFL 21, just before February's Super Bowl.
But in typical Pro Bowl fashion these days, Wallace as added as a late "fill-in", joining an NFC roster consisting of Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl strong safety Jamal Adams, and former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch.
The AFC team featured Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry, former NFL wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, and rapper Snoop Dogg.
Wallace helped lead the NFC to what was technically their first Pro Bowl victory since 2012, even if the format might have carried a few (okay, quite a few) asterisks.
Still, the 23XI Racing driver managed to qualify (a term we use very loosely here) for an NFL Pro Bowl before Joe Flacco.
Flacco is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who has been in the league for 18 years, and even during his prime, he was never considered to be much better than a slightly-above-average quarterback, even after his elite 2012-13 playoff run (11 touchdowns, no interceptions) with the Baltimore Ravens.
This year, with very few quarterbacks actually caring enough to participate, Flacco finally got his first Pro Bowl nod. It came after a season in which he played for both the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals.
Flacco is one of those players whom you would have expected to have made it to at least one Pro Bowl by now, because for as many random, and dare we say undeserving, players who do tend to get added, there are still quite a few more deserving players who somehow never got the nod.
As a side note, it's kind of crazy how the Browns had not one but two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on this year's roster. They must have had one heck of a year!
But I digress.
Bubba Wallace making it to an NFL Pro Bowl, and as a player, before Ravens legend Joe Flacco is certainly a cool piece of trivia to store for years down the road.
Even if it did take a video game to make it possible.