Brooks back to Hawaii; Smith beats out Reggie

Derrick Brooks is Hawaii-bound -- again. No shocker there.

But the bombshell of the day is Clifton Smith's inclusion on the NFC Pro Bowl team, announced this afternoon by the NFL. RB Smith, who was on the practice squad as recently as October, burst onto the scene as the team's kick and punt returner and will fulfill that role in Honolulu.

He makes the Pro Bowl roster by effectively beating out New Orleans phenom Reggie Bush, who is arguably the only NFC return man to rival Smith's accomplishments this season.

He returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against Kansas City in his second NFL game, then added a 70-yard score on a punt return in Detroit two weeks later. Both plays helped the Bucs rally for come-from-behind victories. Smith becomes the second rookie in franchise history to make the Pro Bowl, joining Warrick Dunn (1997).

Brooks is headed to his 11th Pro Bowl after having a streak of 10 straight appearances snapped last season. Brooks made the squad as a reserve. The starters at OLB will be the Cowboys' DeMarcus Ware and the Bears' Lance Briggs.

Among the Bucs likely disappointed by their exclusion are K Matt Bryant, C Jeff Faine and MLB Barrett Ruud. Giants K John Carney, centers Andre Gurode (Cowboys) and Shaun O'Hara (Giants) and ILBs Patrick Willis (49ers) and Jon Beason (Panthers) were elected to the roster at those positions.

Click here for a complete list of the Pro Bowl rosters.

Comments

[shane]

Great; hopefully it will motivate Smith to cross the 30 yard line this Sunday on kickoffs..........

[mm]

What about Ruud? Ruud robbed again...pathetic.

[shane]

Unfortunately I think all RUDD's missed tackles the past two weeks and the 450 yards rushing the Bucs D gave up probably cost him a trip to Hawaii.

[Mediocre]

ALSO - "CONGRATS" TO FORMER BUC, THOMAS JONES...STARTING RUNNING BACK OF THE NEW YORK JETS. YOU KNOW, THE ONE WHO SIGNED WITH THE JETS 1 MINUTE AFTER MIDNIGHT, AFTER HIS CONTRACT WAS UP.HERE.BECAUSE HE COULD NOT STAND THE MIDGET COACH..YEAH, THE MIDGET IS NOT A "PEOPLE PERSON" TO SAY THE LEAST..IT IS A SHAME HE ESTEEMS HIMSELF FAR GREATER THAN HIS ACTUAL RECORD AND HIS OVERALL MEDIOCRITY .YEAH, AND I WILL NOT GET OUT OF TOWN UNTIL THE MIDGET LEAVES, FIRST!!!!!

[Drew]

Congrats to Clifton Smith.

[IdahoBUCfan]

C-mon, how did this discussion become a platform to attack Coach Gruden? So often I hear about all the disgruntled guys who leave and "hate" coach Gruden! If you were to talk to the players who leave here for cap reasons, like Thomas Jones, who was given a HUGE contract, and not with the Jets if memory serves me better than yours serves you "Mr. Mediocre"! I expect that they would sound very similar to players who left other teams under similar conditions!
So try interviewing Deric Brooks or Clifton Smith about Coach Gruden! For crying out loud, I recently heard both Warren Sap and Keshawn Johnson say that Gruden is a Very Good Coach!
Congrats to Brooks and Smith, both deserving, and a special "thank you" to all the other BUC standouts who have played well enough to go to the Pro Bowl and once again were overlooked (or had a bad game at the wrong time)
Thank you for Your effort, your dedication to this team, your fans, and the organization! Keep up the good work, pound the rock, and GO BUCS!

[Ric T]

WAIT FOR THE GIANTS!!!!!!!!

[shane]

mediocre, Thomas Jones left here to the bears not the jets get your facts straight before posting and he was traded from the bears to the jets for a second rounder. but nonetheless congrats to him.

[Garick]

Those 2 guys deserve it. Enough said, go Bucs!

[Brandon]

Actually Shane, he was traded from the Bears to Jets not for a second round pick but an exchange of second round picks. We really should have resigned him, I said it then and I've said it EVERY year since then that we should have stuck with Jones. I still remember Bruce Allen's smug comments about Jones leaving, "We'll see how he likes it up there come December". I suppose after leading the Bears to the Super Bowl and going to the Pro Bowl with the Jets, I would say he doesn't mind it too much.

Who in the hell really thinks Reggie Bush is a "phenom"? Sounds like somebody is still stuck reading Bush's 2005 USC press clippings. The guy's a bust, plain and simple. He's a pretty good punt return guy but he isn't a kick returner and he probably sucks worse than Clifton Smith as a RB. Smith returns kicks and punts equally well and deserves the spot (and a tube of crazy glue for his hands).

BTW, this marks the first time EVER that the Bucs have put a player in the Pro Bowl at the KR/PR position.

[aaron]

good thing we used our second round pick last year on a dynamic kick returner. oh wait, Clifton smith wasnt that guy we drafted. that guy is collecting a paycheck for sitting on the bench.

[Perceptive360]

I see Thomas Jones made it. Hmmm, maybe it could be the offense he's in? Midget Coach and his old 1st phase (there are 3 main mods to the west cost) 49'rs West coast offense is awful. The tampa two was created to battle the west coast. ALL teams use the tampa 2 when they see a west coast formation. You know, 15 tight ends, one flank z or x, that runs a 2 yard come back, and a split and slot that runs a out and a drag pattern for 4 yards. Spread style offense host two flank z and x wide recievers ( old rams=holt,bruce, colts = harrison,wayne bengals = johnson, Houshmanzada, the list goes on) that have routes like wheel routes, deep come backs, deep post & drags, in and outs, ect.. When are you stupid wanna be football watchers gong to call for grudens job?

[G. Michael Reynolds]

Hmm...someone plays Madden and feels it qualifies them to coach in the NFL, apparently.

Have some among us still not realized that ALL CAPS IN A FORUM is the equivalent of tinfoil hats in real life?

And like everyone else, I think Ruud got jobbed. Congrats to Derrick and Clifton.

[OAR]

GM(no pun intended) Reynolds you took the words right out of my mouth. Thank you.

[Eric McLeroy]

Congrats to our two Bucs that made the Pro Bowl. It's not the Lynch, Sapp, and Brooks show anymore, but give this offensive line and young defensive unit time and they will start showing up in the pro bowl for years to come. And for all the Gruden haters, before you call for him to be fired, who would you find to replace him?

[OAR]

Eric McLeroy, sounds like Perceptive360 has his resume typed and ready to go.

[Leo In Canada]

Congratulations to Mr. Brooks & Clifton Smith. Let's hope it's not the last one for either of them. As for the deserved who were left out, running the table in the regular season & playoffs would go a long way in easing the sting.

[DR]

Perceptive, I'm with you. I've been calling for Gruden's head the past 4 years. It will be 2020 and Gruden still hasn't won a playoff game since the 2002 season and these guys will still call him a great coach. His offense is a joke. His play calling is even a bigger joke- with no punch line. I start laughing when they get in the red zone.
Good for Brooks and Smith. Ruud didn't get jobbed. Ruud might lose his job if he keeps playing the way he is playing. He was doing tricks with the white tiger on Monday Night.