Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton replaces NY Giants QB Eli Manning in NFC Pro-Bowl roster - NFL News
With the New York Giants surprisingly overcoming the Green Bay Packers and San Francisco 49ers to qualify for the Super Bowl XLVI, the Pro-Bowl 2012 roster requires a bit of shuffling.
On Monday it was announced that Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton will replace Giants quarterback Eli Manning in the National Football Conference (NFC) team.
The Pro-Bowl is a prestigious fixture that takes place a week before the Super Bowl main event every year with the best players from the American Football Conference (AFC) taking on the best from the NFC as voted in by fans, coaches and players.
Those teams who qualify for the Super Bowl their players are replaced in the Pro-Bowl roster by alternative picks for the game.
With Eli Manning leading the Giants to the Super Bowl after shocking both the first seed Green Bay Packers in the divisional round and second seed San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game, the Giants quarterback will not be able to take part in the
Pro-Bowl.
Newton who finished his first season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Carolina Panthers was voted in as the first alternate and will now take his place in the roster.
Newton has had a brilliant rookie year after joining the Panthers as the first draft pick. The quarterback’s brilliant form led the Panthers to a 6-10 finish, and third place in the NFC South division.
The Panthers could have qualified for the playoff rounds but for their penchant of not finishing games till the end which led to a string of closely fought yet lost games in the regular season.
Newton broke some big records in his first year as he overtook Peyton Manning’s rookie season record for the most passing yards covered with 4,051 while also beating the NFL record for the most rushing touchdowns scored by a quarterback in a single season
with 14.
He also covered 706 rushing yards this season.
Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is proud of Newton’s achievements and in a statement also praised the rest of the roster for helping Newton.
"It's obviously a tribute to him and says a lot about his work ethic and his approach to the game," Hurney said. “But it's not just one person, and Cam will certainly tell you that. A lot of people contributed to him reaching that goal. In this game, you
are only as good as the people around you."
Newton’s selection for the Pro-Bowl will be a proud moment for the young quarterback who singlehandedly made the Panthers an exciting team once again and nothing could be better for a rookie than a call up to take part in a game amongst the best in the league.
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