Detroit Lions safety Kerby Joseph had a breakout season by every measure this year. He paid off his goal to lead the league in interceptions, and he was named First Team All-Pro. Of course he was also an egregious Pro Bowl snub, which newly exposed the foolishness of attaching a player's future compensation to the results of a voting process, and he was somehow not a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year.
After the Pro Bowl snub, Joseph showed he has the proper perspective when it comes to outside validation from what amounts to a popularity contest with Pro Bowl voting.
"I saw it and I was like, 'Wow, that's crazy.' But I wasn't really too much worried about the Pro Bowl. I ain't trying to be the in the Pro Bowl. I'm trying to be in that Super Bowl. I feel like All-Pro is the real recognition that people give," Joseph said, via Lions.com. "I'm not really worried about it. I'm focused on the Super Bowl. I wasn't going to go (to) the Pro Bowl anyways."
That being said, some pieces of outside acknowledgement mean far more than others.
Kerby Joseph gets brief but big praise from Hall of Famer
Among safeties in NFL history, you'd be hard-pressed to find one more decorated than Ed Reed. Over 12 seasons (2002-2013), most spent with the Baltimore Ravens, he was a nine-time Pro Bowler and a five-time All-Pro, with a Defensive Player of the Year award and a Super Bowl ring on his resume. He led the league in interceptions three times, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
Reed was on "Up and Adams" with Kay Adams last week, and he was asked who he thinks is the best safety in the NFL.
Reed actually made reference to two players, tapping into his Ravens' roots ("My guy in Baltimore", referencing Kyle Hamilton). But the first person he mentioned stands as his pick, right?
"My guy in Detroit,” Reed said, of course referring to Joseph, before including "My guy in Baltimore" as he thinks they both stand above the rest.
Joseph is self-driven, so he doesn't need the outside motivation that feels intrinsic to not being acknowledged for the Pro Bowl and Defensive Player of the Year this year. But being noticed by someone like Ed Reed surely means a little something.