McCoy, Peters named to NFL's Pro Bowl
Foles is a first alternate, Jackson and Mathis are second alternates for the season-ending all-star game.
JUST THE OTHER DAY, former NFL star and local sports personality Gary Cobb was saying how a lot of NFL players didn't take their votes for the Pro Bowl all that seriously.
Cobb said a lot of times, players voted for players on reputations or names they happen to hear often on television, rather than analyzing who was performing the best during a particular season.
That conversation comes to mind because last night, the 2014 NFL Pro Bowl team was announced and only two players from the Eagles - running back LeSean McCoy and left tackle Jason Peters - made the first team in voting by fans, coaches and players.
Quarterback Nick Foles is a first alternate; wide receiver DeSean Jackson and left guard Evan Mathis are second alternates. (The full roster is on Page 50.)
Given the turnaround the Eagles have had under new coach Chip Kelly, it's a bit surprising there were not more Pro Bowlers. The Eagles, who were 4-12 in 2012, will clinch the NFC East if they win at Dallas tomorrow night.
Notable omissions for the Birds are center Jason Kelce, inside linebacker DeMeco Ryans and punter Donnie Jones.
"It means a lot to me," McCoy, a second-time selection who leads the NFL in rushing with 1,476 yards, said in a team release. "A lot of my teammates have helped me out to get to this point. I can't wait to enjoy this time with my family. I'm taking my son for the first time."
Peters was named to his sixth Pro Bowl and his fourth as an Eagle. This selection completes a major comeback for the 10-year veteran, who missed the 2012 season after tearing an Achilles' tendon.
"This is really special," Peters said in the team statement. "Two Achilles' surgeries, people thought I wasn't going to even be able to play football again.
"The doctors, especially after the second [surgery], they didn't think I was going to be able to play at a level."
"Every year, I try to work to make the Pro Bowl, and I just know, if I'm working to make the Pro Bowl, the team is going to succeed. If I'm playing good, the guys besides me are playing good. So anytime you make the Pro Bowl, you have other players around you that are playing good, as well."
Under the new format, the two teams playing on Jan. 26 in Hawaii will be chosen by former NFL stars Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders.