Seahawks DT Williams sounds off on Pro Bowl snub: 'It's frustrating'

RENTON, Wash. -- Cornerback Devon Witherspoon was the Seattle Seahawks' lone Pro Bowl selection Thursday, earning a second straight nod with a strong season belied by his underwhelming stat line.

Leonard Williams experienced the opposite fate.

The veteran defensive tackle was passed over despite what might end up being the productive season of his 10-year NFL career, and as Williams spoke with reporters on the same day Pro Bowl rosters were announced, he made no attempt to hide how upset he was by the snub.

"It's pretty disappointing, if I'm being honest," Williams said.

This isn't the first time Williams thought he should have made it but didn't. He recorded a career-best 11.5 sacks in 2020 with the New York Giants (he had 8.5 when rosters were announced) but was left off the NFC team that year. He tried to convince himself after that experience that, with a flawed voting system, the Pro Bowl doesn't matter. But Williams also realizes how Pro Bowls and All-Pro selections impact legacies, and he has become more conscious of his as he gets further into his career.

"I feel like I definitely deserved it this year, but I'm happy for the guys that made it," Williams said. "They equally deserved it. That's why they're in the Pro Bowl."

Williams' 9.0 sacks are tied for most among NFC interior defensive lineman while his 15 tackles for loss and 26 quarterback hits are tops among that group. He has matched or outperformed the three players selected over him: the Giants' Dexter Lawrence (9.0 sacks, 8 TFLs, 16 QB hits), the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Vita Vea (6.0 sacks, 9 TFLs, 12 QB hits) and the Philadelphia Eagles' Jalen Carter (4.5 sacks, 12 TFLs, 16 QB hits).

Lawrence suffered a season-ending elbow injury on Thanksgiving.

Williams also recorded a 92-yard interception return for a touchdown -- the longest in NFL history by a defensive lineman -- to earn NFC Defensive Player of the Week in early December.

"I don't understand that one," Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith said of Williams not making the Pro Bowl. "Well, I do understand it. I've been in Seattle long enough to know there's some type of a bias. I feel that way, honestly. There's a lot of players that have been snubbed from a lot of things here. It's unfortunate for guys like Leo, who has had a tremendous season. The guy had a pick-six at D-tackle. He's been wrecking games. If you turn on the tape, there's no way this guy's not an All-Pro, Pro Bowler."

Williams is an alternate and could end up being added to the NFC roster, with Lawrence hurt and Carter's Eagles in the playoffs. But Williams didn't sound enthused about that possibility.

"Honestly, I don't care at this point," he said, calling it frustrating to merely be an alternate.

Witherspoon became the fifth player in Seahawks history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first two seasons. The fifth overall draft pick in 2023, Witherspoon said he appreciated voters giving him the nod even though he hasn't recorded an interception and has only one sack. He called it "crazy" that Williams didn't make it with him.

"I ain't gonna lie," he said. "They gotta review that or something, bro. They trippin'. I ain't gonna lie. They trippin'."

Williams said he didn't think playing in Seattle had anything to do with his snub, noting that he was in a major media market when he was passed over with the Giants in 2020.

"Luckily, I found out about it yesterday ... so I was able to get out some of my frustrations at home and things like that before I came into the building today," Williams said. "But either way, it's frustrating, as much as I don't want to make it seem like it matters. At the end of the day, it doesn't mean everything. ... I feel like I have so much respect from my teammates, I have so much respect from my coaches and also other coaches and players across the league have showed me a lot of respect, and I think that's important for me."