As Ian wrote earlier today, five New England Patriots were named 1st team All-Pro’s today with four more being tabbed for the second team.Wide Receiver Randy Moss was a unanimous pick and quarterback Tom Brady was nearly so as one voter split their vote between Brady and Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre who was named to the second squad.
In addition to Brady and Moss the other Patriots named to the first team were tackle Matt Light, Cornerback Asante Samuel and Linebacker Mike Vrabel.
Patriots named to the second team were Wide Receiver Wes Welker, Center Dan Koppen, Guard Logan Mankins and Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork.
All of the players with the exception of Moss are first timers. Moss was named an All-Pro for the fourth time in his illustrious career the previous three he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings when he was an All-Pro in 1998, 2000 and 2003.
Brady was also named the NFL MVP, NFL Offensive Player of the Year, AP Male Athlete of the Year, ESPN.com All-Pro Team, Sporting News Sportsman of the Year and a Pro Bowl starter this season as he set records for TD passes with 50. He was also mentioned today on ESPN.com for having one the 25 greatest sports seasons of all time as he finished 5th on the list.
Brady had this to say about being named to the squad:
“Every week, we come in here on Monday and you win and everybody’s excited, the plane flights home are great,” Brady said, referring to what has been a historic season so far for the 16-0 Patriots. “It’s been a lot of fun. To see what we’ve accomplished thus far is great. At the same time we realize that, as coach put it, there’s another mountain to climb.”
Moss, who caught a NFL record 23 TD passes, in his first season in New England was also named a Pro Bowl starter and a member of the ESPN.com All-Pro team.
Samuel, drafted by the Patriots in the 4th round of 2003 is in his 5thyear, Light, a 2nd round pick in 2001 is in his 7th year and Vrabel, an 11 year veteran who was a free agent signee in 2001, are all Pro Bowl starters and all but Light were named ESPN.com All-Pro’s.
Welker,who was acquired this off season via a trade with Miami, made the second team and also earned recognition as the Patriots 12th man this season plus made the ESPN.com All-Pro team despite not making the Pro Bowl with a team record 112 catches that tied him for the NFL lead.
Mankins in his 3rd NFL season, is a former 1st round draft pick of Patriots, was named a Pro-Bowl starter and a member of the ESPN.com Pro Bowl team. As was Wilfork, yet another first round Patriots draft pick, is in his 4th season. Koppen, a former Boston College player and Patriots 5th round draft pick in 2003 is in his 5th season was named to the Pro Bowl as a reserve.
So what’s the difference between being a Pro-Bowl player and an All-Pro? A Pro-Bowl player is similar to being named to the all-star team in baseball both conferences have a full squad of players to play in the game in Hawaii in February. Those players are voted on by the fans, coaches and players. All-Pro players, are selected by the Associated Press voters, regardless of conference two players for each position are selected based on vote totals done by the 50 AP voters. It’s probably best described as the all-stars of all-stars, the elite of the elite. Smart players generally have bonuses in their contracts. It is unknown at this time if any of the Patriots named have some extra cash coming to them in their pay envelope.
