Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Rod Woodson and Bruce Smith are in the Pro Bowl in Honolulu just about every February. No exception this time.
Joining those stars this season will be the likes of Mark Tuinei, Dana Stubblefield, Chester McGlockton and Ken Harvey.The Dallas Cowboys placed 11 players on the AFC team for the Pro Bowl and the San Francisco 49ers had nine in voting announced Thursday.
As expected, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Charles Haley were selected in voting by players, coaches and fans. So were Rice, Steve Young and Deion Sanders from the 49ers.
They'll be joined by other major stars of the NFL, including Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Dan Marino.
But the most thrilled players were the first-timers, such as Cowboys offensive tackle Tuinei, a native of Hawaii. And second-year defensive tackle Stubblefield of the 49ers.
"I always go home to Hawaii anyway, but this year it will be even more special," Tuinei said. "I was surprised. When I heard it, I thought they were kidding. It's just amazing that I'm still around after 12 years."
Teammate Michael Irvin ran up and kissed Tuinei several times on the cheek.
"Everybody's happy for Mark Tuinei," Irvin said. "He's been in the league forever. In Hawaii he'll be king for a week."
Stubblefield was feeling pretty royal, too.
"I was like, wow," said Stubblefield, the 1993 defensive rookie of the year who was mobbed by teammates on the practice field when coach George Seifert announced the Pro Bowl players. "It's real nice, being the first time going in my second year. That's saying something about a guy."
It also says something about a player when he is chosen off a 2-12 team. Harvey, a 7-year veteran who joined Washington from the Arizona Cardinals in the offseason, leads the NFC in sacks with 12.
"I told my wife we wouldn't go (to Hawaii) until I went to the Pro Bowl," he said. "I didn't know it was going to be seven years, but that was one of the goals I set for myself."
McGlockton, 25 and in his third season as a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Raiders, said it was one of his biggest achievements.
"It's like somebody took a weight off my shoulders," he said. "When you're injured, then everybody says you're a bust, and you didn't do this or you didn't do that, It's a lot of relief now when people say you're doing a good job."
Two other Cowboys first-timers were defensive tackle Leon Lett and safety Darren Woodson. Also selected for the NFC team on offense were Dallas' Smith, Aikman, Irvin, center Mark Stepnoski, offensive lineman Nate Newton, tight end Jay Novacek and fullback Daryl Johnston. On defense, it was Haley, Lett and Woodson.
Smith, Newton, Stepnoski, Haley, Lett and Woodson all will be starters.
Rice will be making his ninth appearance, and will have with him teammates Young and Brent Jones as starters on offense, plus Sanders and Merton Hanks on defense. The backups from the 49ers are Jesse Sapolu and Bart Oates on the offensive line, Stubblefield and Tim McDonald on defense.
The rest of the NFC starters on offense will be Minnesota wide receiver Cris Carter, who is within one catch of tying Sterling Sharpe's record of 112 receptions in a season; Detroit's Sanders, the leading rusher in the league; New Orleans' William Roaf and Detroit's Lomas Brown at tackle; and Minnesota guard Randall McDaniel.
On defense, it will be Harvey; Green Bay's Reggie White and Bryce Paup; Minnesota's John Randle; Detroit's Chris Spielman; and Arizona's Aeneas Williams.
Selected as specialists were Washington punter Reggie Roby, Minnesota placekicker Fuad Reveiz, Detroit kick returner Mel Gray and special teamer Elbert Shelley of Atlanta.
The NFC backups included Green Bay's Sharpe, Minnesota's Warren Moon and Jerome Bettis of the Rams on offense; Philadelphia's William Fuller, Arizona's Seth Joyner, Atlanta's Jessie Tuggle and Philadelphia's Eric Allen on defense.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, with an 11-3 record, best in the AFC, led the voting for the conference squad with six, four of them starters: center Dermontti Dawson, cornerback Woodson, safety Carnell Lake and linebacker Greg Lloyd. The backups were guard Duval Love and linebacker Kevin Greene, who leads the NFL with 14 sacks.
The AFC team has five Miami Dolphins: starters Marino at quarterback, Keith Sims and Richmond Webb on the offensive line, and reserves Irving Fryar and Bryan Cox.
Marino, reaching another milestone in his comeback from Achilles tendon surgery, will make his eighth Pro Bowl appearance and third in a row.
Marino, who admits he hasn't fully recovered from the injury in October 1993, was selected for the sixth time as a starter.
"I've made a lot of them," he said. "It was good, coming back off an injury and playing (even though) it's bothering me. That's something that makes me feel good."
The four-time defending AFC champion Buffalo Bills placed three players on the squad: starters Andre Reed at wide receiver and Smith at defensive end, plus special teamer Steve Tasker.
The other offensive starters for the AFC are running back Marshall Faulk of Indianapolis, the only rookie to make the Pro Bowl; Tim Brown and Steve Wisniewski of the Los Angeles Raiders; Bruce Armstrong and Ben Coates of New England; and Natrone Means of San Diego.
"I didn't consider the Pro Bowl, but it's a great thing that happened to me," Faulk said.
The rest of the defensive starters included Leslie O'Neal and Junior Seau of San Diego; Cleveland's Michael Dean Perry and Eric Turner; Kansas City's Derrick Thomas; Seattle's Cortez Kennedy; and Terry McDaniel of the Raiders.
Joining Tasker among the specialists were kick returner Eric Metcalf of Cleveland, placekicker John Carney of San Diego and Seattle punter Rick Tuten.
The AFC backups included Sterling Sharpe's brother, Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe, along with teammates John Elway, Steve Atwater and Gary Zimmerman; New England's Drew Bledsoe; Cleveland's Leroy Hoard; Seattle's Chris Warren, the AFC's leading rusher; Rob Moore of the New York Jets; Bruce Matthews of Houston; and Kansas City's Neil Smith and Dale Carter.
A 43rd "need" player will be added by the coaches and must be a linebacker or defensive lineman. The losing coaches in the conference championship games will handle the Pro Bowl teams.
Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Chicago and the New York Giants had no representatives.