|
Title: 3 Dolphins finish atop Pro Bowl fan balloting Post by: DolFan619 on December 11, 2008, 08:14:49 pm http://www.palmbeachpost.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/palmbeach/miamidolphins/entries/2008/12/11/3_dolphins_finish_atop_pro_bow.html
3 Dolphins finish atop Pro Bowl fan balloting By Brian Biggane | Thursday, December 11, 2008, 05:16 PM Placekicker Dan Carpenter, offensive tackle Jake Long and linebacker Joey Porter all finished first in their respective positions in the AFC Thursday as fan voting for the 2009 Pro Bowl concluded. Running back Ronnie Brown, who had been leading at running back throughout the voting, finished second to Tennessee’s Chris Johnson. Carpenter and Long are both rookies. Carpenter has hit on 19-of-22 field-goal attempts and all 30 PATs for a team-high 87 points. He connected on 14 straight field goals from Games 7-13 to tie an NFL rookie record held by the New York Giants’ Ali Haji-Sheikh in 1983. Long, the top pick in the 2008 draft, has started every game at left tackle and is closing in on becoming only the fifth rookie in club history to start every game on the offensive line. After an offseason in 2007, Porter has reclaimed his spot as one of the league’s top pass-rushers, amassing a league-best 16.5 sacks through 13 games. He needs two sacks Sunday to equal the team record of 18.5 shared by Bill Stanfill (1973) and Jason Taylor (2002). Coach Tony Sparano said he was “pulling for†his players to earn Pro Bowl consideration in Miami’s turnaround season. NFL players are turning in their votes this week; the Dolphins voted after practice Thursday. Fans, players and coaches each account for one-third of the voting. “I care a lot about these guys and what they’ve accomplished, so if their peers feel they deserve being in the Pro Bowl, that’s one heck of an honor,†he said. “There is a point during the course of a season where as things are going good, you’re starting to play well, maybe in the back of your mind you start thinking about things like that. This team has done a good job keeping its focus on team honors, so if in fact that happened I’d be their biggest fan, because I know how hard they worked to get where we are right now.†|