Dealing with the fallout that comes from making roster moves is part of life as a general manager, as Jamaal Charles learned this week. As a player captain, the Kansas City running back helped assemble Team Sanders for today’s Pro Bowl. With nine of his Chiefs teammates available, Charles ended up with four on his side and five going over to Team Rice.
So he expected some grief from the Chiefs who ended up on the opposite sideline.
"Sometimes you see talent and they steal talent from you that you wanted, so you have to go a different way," Charles said. "I just told them, ‘Man, you were on the board; they just picked you before we got there.’ "
The Chiefs sent a game-high 10 representatives to the Pro Bowl, with Charles being named a co-captain along with Houston defensive end J.J. Watt as the top vote-getters from AFC teams that did not advance to the conference championship game.
The distinction gave him a say, along with alumni captain Deion Sanders and Watt, in putting the roster together.
"It was fun," Charles said. "I think I know talent. I do a lot of scouting when I play against other people, so I study the game real well."
The Chiefs’ talent was evidenced by six Pro Bowl selections last year, one of the more incongruous statistics of the 2012 season considering Kansas City won just two games.
This year’s 10 selections caps a turnaround season in which the Chiefs won their first nine games before finishing 11-5, good for second in the AFC West behind Super Bowl-bound Denver.
Charles earned his third Pro Bowl appearance by ranking third in the league with 1,287 rushing yards with 12 touchdowns on the ground, with another seven receiving.
Before contributing to the fantasy football feel of the unconferenced Pro Bowl, Charles helped out his fantasy owners with a five-touchdown performance (four receiving, one rushing) in a 56-31 win over Oakland in Week 15.
Charles noted during Tuesday’s Pro Bowl press conference he’d been injured during the Chiefs’ playoff loss to Indianapolis, but he decided to make the trip anyway.
"Even though I got injured … it took a lot to get here. I have a lot of people’s support and I’m just happy to be here," he said. "I’ll come every year if I make it."
Among the 10 Chiefs in town, five are in their first NFL all-star game, including Team Rice quarterback Alex Smith, whose addition to the Chiefs helped spur the team’s turnaround under the leadership of new coach Andy Reid.
"They’re excited. Some of these guys I’m playing with are overwhelmed, they didn’t know what the Pro Bowl was about," Charles said. "Now they’ve really got that experience, it probably opened their eyes even more to come back."
Of course, being occupied during Pro Bowl week remains the ultimate goal.
"Last year when we came to the Pro Bowl, we were talking about turning the season around," said safety Eric Berry, another three-time Pro Bowl pick. "We were talking about we didn’t want to be in the Pro Bowl this year, because we wanted to be playing the Super Bowl.
"This time it’s the same thing. We’re talking about what we can correct from the season. We have a lot of guys down here, so we’re talking about how we can improve what we did last year and make this upcoming season a better one."
Not that he’d look down on a trip to Hawaii.
"I’ve got no complaints," Berry said. "Every time I come over here I still have to see if I’m dreaming."
