Dec. 18--As is always the case, the teams with the best records dominated fan balloting for the Pro Bowl and that was evident Thursday when the NFL released final results with the leaders heavily comprised of members of the unbeaten Carolina Panthers and defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
Eleven Panthers were in the top two at their respective position in fan balloting and there were eight Patriots, including quarterback Tom Brady, who led all with 701,554 votes, just edging out Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.
The Bears had only one player in the top 10 at his position and it might be a surprise. Sam Acho was designated as the team's special teams player and he ranked ninth with 47,140 votes. He is third on the Bears with eight special teams tackles.
Fan balloting counts one-third in the process to select 88 all-stars. Players have one-third of the vote and coaches also have one-third. The Bears players voted on Thursday. They cannot vote for players on their own team. Pro Bowl selections will be announced at 7 p.m. Tuesday on NFL Network.
Kyle Long was selected as a guard to the Pro Bowl last season for the second time and Martellus Bennett made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
One of John Fox's mottos was that he wanted "Super Bowlers, not Pro Bowlers." It's possible the Bears will wind up with a Pro Bowler or two. The game will be played Jan. 31 in Honolulu and players on the two Super Bowl teams will have to be replaced. There is always a significant list of players selected for the game that back out.
bmbiggs@tribpub.com
