POSSIBLY no Panthers at Pro Bowl

Notice I stressed possibly.

Sauerbrun questionable for Sunday


By Darin Gantt The Herald
(Published December 9‚ 2004)


CHARLOTTE -- Punter Todd Sauerbrun is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against St. Louis because of a quadriceps strain, but he should be able to play.
Questionable would also describe his status for this year's Pro Bowl, where he had become an NFC staple but is now on the verge of losing his spot.

Sauerbrun is fourth among NFC punters in fan voting for the all-star game, which will be played Feb. 13 in Honolulu.

Fan voting constitutes a third of the selection process, with coaches and other players making up the rest of the equation. That gives Sauerbrun a chance to return for his fourth straight year, though he'll have to come from behind.

Teams will be announced Dec. 22. Voting will continue on NFL.com, in stadiums and by wireless text messaging through Dec. 17.

New Orleans punter Mitch Berger leads all NFC punters in fan balloting with 143,182 votes. Berger is followed by Washington's Tom Tupa, Chicago's Brad Maynard and Sauerbrun, though league spokesmen did not give the vote totals for the trailing players.

Inertia factors heavily into Pro Bowl voting, as players who get to the game tend to go back again and again.

Despite Sauerbrun's recent appearances, the Panthers' slow start and a dip in his statistics contribute to his poor showing in fan voting.

He's second in the NFC in gross average (44.3 yards) and fourth in net average (37.6).

He's also not the only Panther lagging behind in the voting. No Carolina player is on the top of the fan balloting at his position. Defensive end Julius Peppers and linebacker Dan Morgan are third at their spots, the closest of any Panthers. Quarterback Jake Delhomme is 11th.

Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning leads all vote-getters, followed by Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper, Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and New York Giants running back Tiki Barber.

 

Peppers desrves to go and probably Moose too. I am not sure anyone else really deserves it though.

 

I agree, Peps and Moose should go. Has Moose been a pro bowler, I'm too lazy to look that up.

 

yes

 

Fortunately for Julius, third is good enough to go. You'd think he'd pick up coach and player votes.

 

I think it sucks you go to the pro bowl pretty much based on what you do the first 8 weeks...not 16

 

I think it sort of includes what you did the last 8 weeks of last year too.

 

what panthers were in the pro bowl last year i was too mad to watch.

 

Ruck, Jenks, Davis, Saurbrun