Cleveland Browns: Joe Thomas, Alex Mack earn Pro Bowl nods
By Thomas Moore
Jun 16, 2015; Berea, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Alex Mack (55), Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas (73) and Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz (72) during minicamp at the Cleveland Browns practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Offensive linemen Joe Thomas and Alex Mack will represent the Cleveland Browns at the 2016 Pro Bowl.
The Cleveland Browns placed two players on the 2016 Pro Bowl roster as offensive linemen Joe Thomas and Alex Mack were selected.
The rosters for the annual game were announced this evening.
Tight end Gary Barnidge, who tied a single-season franchise record last Sunday with his ninth touchdown reception, along with wide receiver Travis Benjamin and special teams player (and sometimes cornerback) Johnson Bademosi were selected as alternates.
This will be the ninth consecutive trip by Thomas to the Pro Bowl, joining Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Lou Groza for the most appearances in franchise history. Thomas is also the only offensive lineman in NFL history to make the Pro Bowl in each of his first nine seasons.
“Jim Brown and Lou Groza are two of the greatest Browns of all time and the list of players who have been selected to the Pro Bowl their first nine seasons is a who’s who of NFL history,” Thomas said of his selection, according to the team’s website. “The neat thing about that list is that it spans many generations. To be included with names like those is pretty special and very humbling.”
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While the Pro Bowl is an annual event for Thomas, the selection of Mack caps off his successful comeback from a season-ending leg injury in 2014.
Mack will be appearing in his third Pro Bowl, the most by a center in franchise history. He
“It’s an honor to be voted to this year’s Pro Bowl, especially coming off of a season where I had to watch from the sidelines for the first time,” Mack said, according to the team’s website. “It was a lot of work during the offseason to come back from injury, but it was all worth it to be back on the field with my teammates. As a lineman, you depend on the man next to you, and I owe a lot of this honor to my teammates and coaches. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the success that we wanted this year, but I look forward to representing Cleveland and the Browns in Hawaii.”
If anyone on the team could be considered a snub it would be Barnidge, who has 68 receptions for 930 yards and nine touchdowns so far this year. But the competition at tight end was difficult, and it is hard to argue with New England’s Rob Gronkowski (66 receptions for 1,072 yards, 11 touchdowns), and Cincinnati’s Tyler Eifert (48 reception for 564 yards and 12 touchdowns).
The Carolina Panthers had the most players selected with 10.
The Pro Bowl will be held on Jan. 31 at 8 p.m. at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.