Authored by Jon Mercer in American Football
Published on 12-28-2008
For the first time in history two brothers have made it into the NFL Pro Bowl. Eli and Peyton Manning were both voted into the Pro Bowl on Tuesday. ESPN reported that the brothers, both quarterbacks, had been chosen for the all-star game.
Peyton Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, will make his ninth appearance in a Pro Bowl game as starting quarterback for the AFC. Eli Manning, quarterback for the New York Giants, will make his first appearance in a Pro Bowl game playing for the NFC. Eli was voted MVP in last February’s Super Bowl game.
The Pro Bowl game will be played on February 8 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The New York Jets had the most players chosen for the Pro Bowl with seven, including Bret Favre, who makes his tenth appearance in the all-star game, but his first for the AFC.
The Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans both had six players chosen. The Titans have the best record in the NFL with twelve wins out of fourteen games. The Baltimore Ravens have five players going to the Pro Bowl. This will mark the eighth time in eleven years that the Ravens have sent at least five players.
There were thirty-one players selected for the first time to the Pro Bowl. Seventeen in the AFC, and fourteen in the NFC. One of the first time selections, Eli Manning, will be the first quarterback for the New York Giants to make it to the game since 1993. The Giants’ kicker, John Carney, is the oldest player to ever make it to the Pro Bowl at age 44.
Peyton Manning will be starting quarterback for the AFC; however, his brother Eli will not be the starting quarterback for the NFC. That honor will go to the Arizona Cardinals’ Kurt Warner, who led the Cardinals to the NFC West title. It will be Warner’s fourth Pro Bowl. The last time he was chosen was in 2001, when he played for St. Louis and it was his third season in a row to make the all-star game.
The Dallas Cowboys only had five Pro Bowl picks this year, as opposed to their thirteen picks for last years game. Interestingly enough, Terrell Owens, Cowboys wide receiver and Tony Romo, Cowboys quarterback, were both passed over as Pro Bowl picks this year. Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks made the game for the eleventh time. Ten of Brooks’ Pro Bowls were consecutive, only missing last season to have had eleven in a row.
