Injured Quarterbacks Make Pro Bowl
N E W Y O R K, Dec. 14, 2000 -- Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb, one ofthe leading candidates for NFL MVP, failed to make the NFC Pro Bowlroster.
Kurt Warner and Brian Griese, who missed a good portion of theseason with injuries, made the NFC and AFC teams at quarterback.
Tennessee and Tampa Bay had the most representatives with eight,and Minnesota had seven. Six of the Bucs are starters, but onlythree of the Titans are starters. One of the Tennessee starters is 39-year-old guard Bruce Matthews, who tied Reggie White with a record 13th straight appearance.
Dallas’ Emmitt Smith, who last week became the third player togo over 15,000 yards rushing for his career, was left off the NFCsquad in favor of Minnesota’s Robert Smith, St. Louis’ MarshallFaulk and San Francisco’s Charlie Garner.
Unusual Selections
There were some strange choices.
Tampa Bay’s Mike Alstott, who has missed the last three gameswith injury and had been seeing less playing time before thatbecause of fumbles, made the NFC team at fullback — even thoughhe’s primarily played running back.
But the biggest surprise was the absence of McNabb, beaten outby Minnesota’s Daunte Culpepper, who will start; Jeff Garcia of SanFrancisco, a 5-9 team; and Warner, last year’s regular-season andSuper Bowl MVP, who missed 5½ games with a broken finger.
One reason could be the fan vote, which comprises a third of thevoting pool. Coaches’ and players’ votes comprise the othertwo-thirds. Many of the votes were cast before the past few weeks,when McNabb has been at his best in leading the Eagles, 8-24 thepast two years, to a playoff spot.
Fans also tend to vote for name players such as Warner, Grieseand Tony Boselli, the Jacksonville offensive tackle who made theteam although he’s been less than his best while recovering frommajor knee surgery.
Griese, Manning Follow Fathers
The Vikings’ explosive skill players — Culpepper, wide receiversCris Carter and Randy Moss and running back Robert Smith — all madeit. So did strong safety Robert Griffith and two offensive linemen:tackle Korey Stringer and center Matt Birk, who will back upMinnesota’s center of the past few years, Jeff Christy, who nowplays for Tampa Bay.
Griese, who hasn’t played since separating a shoulder Nov. 13and probably will miss the rest of the regular season, is a backupat quarterback for the AFC. Oakland’s Rich Gannon is the starterand Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning is the other backup.
Griese and Manning are the fourth and fifth players to jointheir fathers (Archie Manning and Bob Griese) on Pro Bowl rosters.The others were Bert and Dub Jones, Ernie and Erik McMillan, andEric and Terry Metcalf.
Five teams do not have players in the game, to be played Feb. 4in Honolulu: Atlanta and Chicago in the NFC, and Seattle, Clevelandand New England in the AFC. Arizona has only its punter, ScottPlayer.
The Seahawks, 5-9 this season after winning the AFC West lastyear, didn’t have a player on the Pro Bowl roster for the firsttime since 1980. Last season, offensive tackle Walter Jones,defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy and linebacker Chad Brown of theSeahawks were on the AFC Pro Bowl team.