NFL Network's Top 100 List Latest to Disrespect the New England Patriots

The NFL Network’s Top 100 List is apparently wrapping up soon. I wouldn’t have known since I haven’t watched it since 2011, the first year it was released, but I now know because New England is getting disrespected by the NFL, again.

Here’s what Pats Pulpit says in regard to the Patriots defense:

"Not a single member of the Patriots defense is expected to make the top 100. Safeties Devin McCourty and Patrick Chung were ignored. Cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t make it. Linebackers Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins are nowhere to be found. I’m not saying that any of these players should be in the top 20, or even in the top 50, but leaving every single one of them off the list is absurd."

I’ll point out that one member of last year’s defense was included in the selections. He (Chandler Jones) was just traded to the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason. So is this a grand conspiracy? I highly doubt it. Most of those votes for Jones were probably cast before the trade, since the league sends out the voting ballots starting in November.

More likely, New England players just aren’t as good at inflating votes for their buddies and cheating the system. One of the reasons I haven’t cared to watch since that first season, because of the flawed voting process.

I haven’t seen any update on that voting process, so it basically means this: the few NFL players (relative to the total number in the league) vote for only 20 players, not 100. So the bottom of the top 100 list is populated by guys who got some votes as one of the 20 best players in the league on someone’s ballot.

I’m not sure that any of those Patriots defenders mentioned merit even being in the discussion as being on a top 20 list. Of course, neither do many of the names that made the cut. The only ones that made a pro bowl last year were Jones, along with Jamie Collins and Malcolm Butler, and neither of the last two were all-pro choices.