Peyton Manning tops voting for NFL Pro Bowl rosters

If Peyton Manning does not lead the Denver Broncos to New York for the Super Bowl, he will instead have a date in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl. The Denver quarterback was the leading candidate in fan balloting with 1.43 million votes as input from players, coaches and supporters was used to determine a roster of 85 players for the January 26 NFL all-star game at Honolulu's Aloha Stadium. Players from teams that reach the Super Bowl, set for February 2 at suburban New York in the championship game's first outdoor foray into a cold American city, do not play in the Pro Bowl the week before. The Pro Bowl revamped its format for the next edition with a draft among the nominees to be conducted January 22 when retired NFL legends Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders will select talent in an alternating choice format with no regard to the American and National Conference teams typically used in past years. Manning, 37, has thrown a one-season NFL record 51 touchdown passes during this campaign and was named to his 13th Pro Bowl lineup. He could set one-season yardage and completion marks and Denver could claim a one-season total scoring mark in Sunday's regular-season finale at Oakland. The Broncos have already clinched a playoff berth and a first-round bye. Other quarterbacks selected for the Pro Bowl include New England's Tom Brady, New Orleans' Drew Brees, Carolina's Cam Newton, Seattle's Russell Wilson and San Diego's Philip Rivers. Six running backs in the Pro Bowl lineup include Kansas City's Jamaal Charles, Chicago's Matt Forte, Minnesota's Adrian Peterson, San Francisco's Frank Gore, Seattle's Marshawn Lynch and Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy. Eight wide receivers were selected, including NFL reception yardage leader Josh Gordon of Cleveland. Pittsburgh's Antonio Brown, Dallas' Dez Bryant, Cincinnati's A.J. Green, Houston's Andre Johnson, Chicago's Brandon Marshall, Detroit's Calvin Johnson and Denver's Demaryius Thomas were also chosen. Detroit's Ndamukong Suh and Baltimore's Haloti Ngata were among the defensive linemen selected while three of the linebackers available are from San Francisco -- Ahmad Brooks, NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis. Source: AFP