Here is the NFC Pro Bowl roster. Starters are listed in bold.

OFFENSE

QB: Kurt Warner, Cardinals; Drew Brees, Saints; Eli Manning, Giants
RB: Adrian Peterson, Vikings; Michael Turner, Falcons; Clinton Portis, Redskins
FB: Mike Sellers, Redskins
WR: Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals; Anquan Boldin, Cardinals; Steve Smith, Panthers; Roddy White, Falcons,
TE: Jason Witten, Cowboys; Chris Cooley, Redskins
T: Jordan Gross, Panthers; Walter Jones, Seahawks; Chris Samuels, Redskins
G: Chris Snee, Giants; Steve Hutchinson, Vikings; Leonard Davis, Cowboys
C: Andre Gurode, Cowboys; Shaun O’Hara, Giants

DEFENSE

DE: Justin Tuck, Giants; Julius Peppers, Panthers; Jared Allen, Vikings
DT: Kevin Williams, Vikings; Jay Ratliff, Cowboys; Pat Williams, Vikings
OLB: DeMarcus Ware, Cowboys; Lance Briggs, Bears; Derrick Brooks, Buccaneers
MLB: Patrick Willis, 49ers; Jon Beason, Panthers
CB: Charles Woodson, Packers; Antoine Winfield, Vikings; Asante Samuel, Eagles
S: Nick Collins, Packers; Adrian Wilson, Cardinals; Brian Dawkins, Eagles

SPECIAL TEAMS

K: John Carney, Giants
P: Jeff Feagles, Giants
KR: Clifton Smith, Buccaneers
ST: Sean Morey, Cardinals

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2009 NFC Pro Bowl Roster

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Carolina Panthers receiver Steve Smith has very quietly returned to the team after serving a two game suspension for bloodying teammate Ken Lucas’ nose during training camp. Fortunately for the Panthers, they’re already 2-0 and one would assume they’re only going to get better with Steve back in the lineup. Steve was candid in answering questions from the media and says he and Ken have settled their differences:

“I can’t really say exactly everything that I have felt and thought. I know I’m not a victim, as people may think. I know I’m not giving them lip service. I’m not just saying stuff just to get people off my back. I’m telling you how I feel. Sometimes, obviously, when you do something wrong, you don’t want to constantly keep talking about it and going over and over, whether it happened two weeks ago or a month ago — you just kind of want to say, ‘Hey, I made a mistake; I had to pay a price’ ….. Flat out, we said it: I thought he didn’t like me and he thought I didn’t like him. It’s plain and simple ….. I would think we’re friends. I think the conversation we had would indicate we are. There were some frowns going on, some laughing and we talked about a lot of things. I think that was kind of the icebreaker. Hopefully it continues and I think it will.”

Now it’s time for Steve to get back into the flow with QB Jake Delhomme and fellow receivers Muhsin Muhammad, D.J. Hackett and Dwayne Jarrett. Plus, he’s got to rehab a shoulder, watch film and decorate his locker.

Source: Panthers.com, Photo: Newscom

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Steve Smith Back With Carolina Panthers

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was suspended for two games following a training camp fight with teammate Ken Lucas yesterday. Ken left the practice field with ice over his left eye and a broken nose. Steve will continue to practice when camp resumes Monday and he will be allowed to participate in the team’s preseason games, but he’s out for the first two regular season games, costing him more than $205,000. According to Panthers head coach John Fox:

“What (Steve) did was wrong and we take very serious and he is being punished severely for it. He is still ours and he will have conditions. He knows what those are and we will move forward.”

I realize that tempers can flare amidst the heat of training camp. And teammates get tired of beating up on one another. But you can’t let your emotions get the best of you to a point where you’re taking out one of your own. It certainly send a strong message to the rest of the squad that as teammates, you have to take care of one another.

Source: NFL.com

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Panthers WR Steve Smith Suspended

I’m stunned. I gave the N.Y. Giants a chance. I knew they would be in this ball game. But I didn’t think they would pull off one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history. No way. Somehow, though, the N.Y. Giants shocked the world tonight by beating the previously undefeated New England Patriots 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII. That’s right, no need to rub your eyes or blink hard. The N.Y. Giants held the highest-scoring team in NFL history to 14 points en route to the shocking upset Super Bowl win.

Giants QB Eli Manning won the MVP award. (Yeah, Peyton’s little brother. Or is Peyton now Eli’s big brother? Let’s go with that.) And deservingly so. Eli engineered what I viewed as controlled chaos in a shocking 12-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard TD pass to Plaxico Burress with 35 seconds left. That is how you win a Super Bowl. You’ve heard the cliche phrase “big-time players make big plays in big games.” Well, the stage doesn’t get any bigger than this and the big-time players made big plays on this final drive — Eli, David Tyree, Steve Smith, Plaxico. In the end, the Giants made more plays than the Patriots.

Yes, Eli deserved top honors with his 255-yard, two-TD performance. And I’m happy for him because he silenced his critics. He has put up with a lot of crap from not only the NYC media, but the national press (aka Tiki Barber) as well. But I felt the entire defense (including defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) should have been rewarded with the MVP trophy as well. When you hold Tom Brady and this high-powered New England offense to a mere 274 total yards, you deserve some extra special recognition. Throw in five sacks and countless quarterback hurries and hits and you’ve found a recipe for success against the Pats that’s certainly worthy of MVP status.

Here’s an MVP problem. It’s just not as neat and tidy with all the politics of the award to hand it out to more than one person. And that stinks. This defense played their hearts out. So they give the MVP award to Eli. And like I said, that works. He deserved it. But this ultimate team effort won the Super Bowl champions’ Lombardi Trophy tonight and that will, of course, be shared by the entire team.

The play of the Giants offensive line should also be commended. They paved the way for enough rushing yards (91) to make a difference, but what a tremendous job they did in protecting Eli, especially late when the pocket was collapsing under heavy pressure from a determined Patriots pass rush.

I simply can’t believe the N.Y. Giants won the Super Bowl. When I saw them back on December 23 in Buffalo, I certainly didn’t think I was looking at the future Super Bowl XXLI champs. I thought they were a pretty good football team, but not a great one. To me, they were just another wild card team who would probably make an early postseason exit. It just goes to show how quickly a good team can become a great team when they begin to win games and believe in themselves. And I credit the Giants for sticking together — really banding together against the world and the odds — to becoming the championship team they knew they could be.

Inset Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

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Giants Upset Patriots 17-14 in SBXLII, Quarterback Eli Manning Named MVP

By the time the N.Y. Giants took the field, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect after my experience with the Patriots. And as a result, I feel I had a better session with the G-Men. As much as Tom Brady was getting most of the attention for the Pats, Giants QB Eli Manning and DE Michael Strahan were pretty much split in their popularity for New York. Both of them appeared to handle the adoration very well. Michael seems to thrive on his popularity. And he’s usually joking and having fun, even when talking about what the Super Bowl means to him:

“If we win the game, I’m supposed to quit (laughs)? I’ve done everything personally that I feel like I can do — awards, honors — that sort of thing. The only thing I haven’t done is the ultimate thing, which is to win a Super Bowl.”

At the podiums/risers for the Giants were Antonio Pierce, Justin Tuck, Plaxico Burress, Tom Coughlin, Jeff Feagles, Eli Manning, Brandon Jacobs, Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer, Shaun O’Hara and Osi Umenyiora. In special sections in the stands were offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Lawrence Tynes, chairman/executive VP/co-owner Steve Tisch, GM Jerry Reese, president/CEO/co-owner John Mara and Sam Madison.

For the BIGPLAY Radio NFL Podcast, I spoke with Sinorice Moss, Corey Webster, Kareem McKenzie, Ahmad Bradshaw, James Butler and Steve Smith. What I couldn’t believe was the attention kicker Lawrence Tynes was getting. He didn’t just have a small gathering around him. He was mobbed. In fact, for one full hour, I couldn’t even see him from the front. I had to go around behind the crowd to get a picture. So, I never got my questions in for LT. I also really wanted to talk to DB Aaron Ross, but I never actually saw him. I roamed almost constantly and never saw him once. Perhaps he was still feeling some ill effects from the flu he reportedly had.

I felt I had enough audio so with 10 minutes left, I just focused on taking pics. When time was up, the Giants headed to the field for their team photo and I climbed the stadium stairs to the parking lot for my 20-minute shuttle ride back downtown to the Convention Center. Before I exited, I turned around to look back at the inside of the stadium. I visualized five days into the future when this very place will be on the eyes of over 90 million people. Wow. It’s an amazing thing to be a part of from my perspective. I can only imagine how excited the players are.

(Note: I would later learn that I was captured on Giants center Shaun O’Hara’s personal video coverage for NFL Network. I’m listening to R.W. McQuarters as the cam passes by us. The whole thing was also saved on NFL.com. See if you can spot me for the two seconds I’m on.)

Photos by David Kindervater

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SBXLII Media Day: N.Y. Giants

When the N.Y. Giants started the 2007 season 0-2, nobody outside of their locker room gave them a chance to get to the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl. But somehow, this band of road warriors has learned how to run the ball and play smart on offense while aggressively attacking their opponents on defense. The result is three straight wins to get to SBXLII. I took part in New York’s Super Bowl XLII Media Day today at University of Phoenix Stadium and spoke with a number of players about the biggest game of their lives in this Media Day Mix.

Shownotes: David Kindervater (host), NY Giants (NFL player guests)

• WR Sinorice Moss
• RB Ahmad Bradshaw
• T Kareem McKenzie
• WR Steve Smith
• CB Corey Webster
• S James Butler

Sponsor: ColdGear ArmourFleece Big Logo Hood
Links: Giants.com, NFL.com

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Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

BPR91 NY Giants SBXLII Media Day