Why is Melvin Gordon, who missed the end of the Chargers season, playing in the Pro Bowl?

I am fully aware that Melvin Gordon had a good year in his sophomore season with the San Diego Chargers. I do believe he performed well enough to be a Pro Bowl alternate, which he is, and if that was all we were talking about I’d be simply slapping him on the back and wishing him well.

However, I take a little umbrage with the idea that Melvin Gordon should be playing in this game.

Here are the reasons why Melvin Gordon should probably be focusing on resting his body:

1. Barely a year removed from major microfracture knee surgery.
2. 78 more touches in 2016 than 2015, in one less game played.
3. He literally missed the last month of the regular season with hip and knee injuries.

Do I need to say more? If I didn’t show up for work in the month of December due to an illness, I damn sure wouldn’t be caught dead doing shot of tequila at the company Christmas party.

I talked about this topic on today’s podcast, around the 14:45 mark. Listen to the full podcast (there’s a lot of Chargers talk) here:

It’s not really my place to tell Melvin Gordon what he should or shouldn’t do. That’s not what I’m doing here. I am, however, saying that it bothers me that his appearance in this exhibition game (where he can, due to the innate violent nature of football, still find himself seriously injured) seems to be a higher priority than getting him into the actual games that he’s actually paid for.

Am I the only one?