Vikings' Linebacker E.J. Henderson Added To NFC Pro Bowl Squad

by Christopher Gates on Jan 27, 2011 2:53 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings

Well, if Michael Vick is going to job E.J. Henderson out of the Comeback Player of the Year award that he deserves, a trip to Hawai'i is a nifty little consolation prize, I guess.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com's NFC North blog is reporting that E.J. Henderson is, indeed, going to the Pro Bowl, giving the Vikings four Pro Bowlers when you take into account injury replacements and things of that nature. The only elected Pro Bowler the Vikings had was running back Adrian Peterson, but Henderson, cornerback Antoine Winfield and defensive tackle Kevin Williams have been named to the team since the original rosters were announced.

(Of course, Williams was replaced as well by Cardinals' defensive tackle Darnell Dockett. . .turns out that Williams and his wife are expecting a baby in the very near future, and big #93 didn't want to make the trip to Hawai'i as a result.)

We've documented Henderson's comeback story numerous times on the site here, so there's no need to rehash it again. A trip to the Pro Bowl simply puts the capper on a great season by E.J. Henderson that, quite frankly, nobody expected to see happen. Congratulations to #56 on being named to the Pro Bowl squad, regardless of how late that addition may have come.

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VERY well deserved!

I BELIEVE...

by ArizonaVikingsFan on Jan 27, 2011 2:55 PM CST reply actions

Indeed

Very well deserved.

by Amir Ghasemi on Jan 27, 2011 3:01 PM CST up reply actions

Meh

At least it’s football….kind of.

Congrats EJ

by Jepp The Viking on Jan 27, 2011 3:00 PM CST reply actions

GREAT NEWS!

Finally, EJ Henderson has made his first Pro Bowl!

A long time in coming, and very well-deserved!

Congratulations to #56, E.J. Henderson!

by medicineball on Jan 27, 2011 5:20 PM CST reply actions

EJ

is a tough son-of-a-gun. Congrats!

Darko is my bodyguard.

by Premier Cherdenko on Jan 27, 2011 6:53 PM CST reply actions

About time!

Now if we can get a much deserved Greenway in there.

by nmvikesfan on Jan 27, 2011 11:09 PM CST reply actions

If ever anyone deserved an All-Pro spot, it's EJ

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by Ted Glover on Jan 28, 2011 11:00 AM CST reply actions

Well EJ

definitely earned it. That’s great. It’s fantastic to have him back. I was impressed by his energy, speed, and tackling. Vintage EJ. Who would have thought that would happen after last year?

by HammeroftheGods on Jan 28, 2011 11:34 AM CST reply actions

He deserved it.

This, IMO, was EJ Henderson’s best season ever- and I’m NOT taking the injury into account here. In fact, that only makes it all the more amazing. The Vikings simply didn’t get the Pro Bowl roster this year because of our dismal record- the Pro Bowl has a habit of occasionally ignoring deserving players from poor teams, unless you’re an absolute shining beacon (like AP always is).

The reverse happened last year when Bryant McKinnie made the Pro Bowl despite having been benched against the Panthers- an absolute travesty that a player who got benched for poor play in the regular season beat out more deserving candidates. I couldn’t even go homer on that one- it was retarded. He rode his reputation and the Viking’s amazing success to the Pro Bowl- and now, thanks to Henderson’s lack of rep (hard to get great rep as a LB when you don’t have ten bajillion sacks, even when the defense doesn’t call for it and it’s not your fault) and the Vikings poor record, he nearly got kept out.

Seriously, they really need to redo how they select Pro Bowl candidates and make it more player oriented.

by KJSegall on Jan 28, 2011 5:02 PM CST reply actions

Oh crap.

If a moderator could remove the use of the word “retarded” from that post and this reply, that would be great. I have a terrible habit of using that term in my daily language and let it slip into this post- it’s not PC though and I get that it’s not appropriate. My apologies to anyone who was offended.

by KJSegall on Jan 28, 2011 5:03 PM CST up reply actions