Seahawks’ four Pro Bowlers all have different reactions to getting the nod

RENTON, Wash. – Gratitude at making it was the common theme among the four Seahawks named to the Pro Bowl this week – quarterback Geno Smith, safety Quandre Diggs, cornerback Tariq Woolen and kicker Jason Myers – from there, the reactions varied.

Smith, whose selection as one of three quarterbacks to the NFC Pro Bowl team might pay off the most of any of the Seahawks who made it as he has a chance to enter free agency after the season, insisted Thursday that he felt no validation at being honored after seven years as a backup.

“Not at all,” said the 32-year-old Smith, who hadn’t been an opening-day starter before this year since 2014, an eight-year gap that was the longest for any NFL QB in more than 50 years. “I think that is just a result of me playing well, which is what I expect. I don’t feel validated by it. I think us winning would give me some validation. I think that would be it for me. Obviously, I am grateful, but there is no validation.”

The Pro Bowl nod did mean Smith earned an extra $500,000 as part of an incentive for throwing 20 or more touchdown passes (he has 26) and making the Pro Bowl. It only adds to a résumé that has been enhanced to a level this season that might have surprised everyone in the NFL other than Smith.

“He’s always talked like that,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said of Smith, insisting he didn’t need any validation from the outside. “That’s how he thinks and that’s how he has operated. Look at him, has he wavered at all? He hasn’t. The only way that it could happen is if you anticipated it and had the mentality that this wasn’t out of the realm. He’s writing his own story. There are not many people that can claim what he’s done here.”

But to Diggs, who last Jan. 9 was carted off the field in Glendale, Arizona, with a broken fibula and dislocated ankle, being named to the Pro Bowl as a starter was the best yet of the three times he has made it.

“The first one is special, the second one is cool,” said Diggs, who has made it the three full seasons he has played in Seattle. “But when you come off something that I came off of, you guys have seen the videos, you have seen the videos, and it’s on the internet every day. People tag you in those things and you see those things. So you kind of look up and thank God that you are able to be out here and be able to play this game. I have been blessed to play every snap and go out there and compete with my guys.

“Who would have thought in January that I would have been able to do that? This one is definitely special and definitely means more because knowing what I went through last offseason.”

Myers was named after having made 26-of-27 field goals this year – a percentage of 96.3 that is two percentage points better than any other kicker in the NFL – including all six from 50 or longer, tying a team record for most 50-yarders made in a season.

It’s a season that marks something of a bounce back from 2021 when Myers made just 17 of 23, 73.9%, the second-lowest percentage of his eight-year career.

Myers insisted he never lost faith in his ability and didn’t change anything in the offseason, with the Pro Bowl nod – the second of his career (2018 with the Jets) – illustrating that his faith in what he had been doing paid off.

“It’s kind of just setting a high expectation for myself every year,” said Myers, who like Smith will be a free agent following the season. “You’re never looking forward to a year where something doesn’t fall, but it happens as a kicker in the NFL. You just have to bounce back. And to be able to see my work come out is awesome.”

That Woolen made it might have been an even bigger surprise a few months ago than Smith considering Woolen was a rookie who entered the league as the 153rd overall pick out of University of Texas-San Antonio, which didn’t even have a program until 2011. Woolen is the first alum from UTSA to make the Pro Bowl, in part on the strength of making six interceptions, tied for the most in the NFL.

“It’s crazy,” Woolen said. “We had the program for 12 years, and I feel like it’s one of the greatest things to do because when people go back in 100 years, they are going to see that Tariq Woolen was the first Pro Bowler. It’s pretty cool because all of the other schools have history from the 1800-1900s, whatever. It just feels good to do it at my school and to be able to put my school on the map.”

Woolen said by the time the call came this week he wasn’t surprised, saying, “I feel like I earned enough respect around the league so far to be able to play in the Pro Bowl.”

The Pro Bowl selection will eventually mean a big payday for Woolen, as it will qualify him for a Proven Performance Escalator in the final year of his rookie contract in 2025, of likely at least $2 million.

“It’s another terrific story,” Carroll said. “He showed early in camp that there was something here. We just kind of hung with it and hung with it and before you knew it, he was matching up with our best guys and doing a good job. It just meant, ‘Let’s see what happens, let’s go with him.’ He’s handled it really well. He’s been really humble, I don’t know how he was with you guys today, but he’s just been humble and very poised about all of this, so we are really proud of what he has accomplished and the coaches that helped him get through this.”