The Patriots wide receiver, who currently leads the NFL with 122 receptions, is grateful that he has been voted into his second Pro Bowl, but it's not something that was on his list of personal goals entering the 2009 season.
"For me, it's going out and playing hard every single week," Welker said during a conference call on Wednesday. "Everything I can do to help the team win. I think whenever you play like that all these other things kind of take care of themselves."
Still, though, that doesn't mean he wasn't expecting a bid to the festivities in South Florida on Jan. 31.
"I feel like I had a pretty good idea it would probably happen," he said, "but you never know in this league how things will turn out. I was definitely excited and glad to hear it."
Welker's 122 catches mark a single-season record in Patriots history. He joins Marvin Harrison, Jerry Rice, Herman Moore and Brandon Marshall as the only NFL players to catch 100 passes in at least three consecutive seasons — pretty good for a guy who went undrafted out of Texas Tech.
Welker's not the only one whose talent was overlooked on draft day; quarterback Tom Brady fell to the sixth round.
"I think we will sit there and say what a hoax the draft is and things like that," Welker said, "but I don't think we wever have it out for anybody or things like that. We just give the evaluators a hard time and say, 'You did a real good job on this pick' — things like that."
Being recognized as one of the best in the game is nice, but Welker is much more focused on the Patriots ultlimate mission: to close out the 2009 season with a bang and go as deep into the playoffs as they can.
"This is what we live for," Welker said. "We want to go out there and play every Sunday, and get that opportunity [to be in the postseason]. We always look forward to going out there and playing wherever the case may be."
What's that code for? The Patriots do not plan on mailing it in on Sunday against the Texans, even though the game is virtually meaningless.
"For myself, I enjoy playing each and every week," he said, "and I look at this week as no different."
