ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 13, 1996 TAG: 9612130064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
EMMITT SMITH won't be there, but seven Panthers and three Redskins will be going to Hawaii for the Feb.2 game.
That nine Dallas players made the Pro Bowl is hardly a surprise. The surprise is the Cowboys who didn't make it.
Four Cowboys will start, including cornerback Deion Sanders, but star running back Emmitt Smith won't be headed to Honolulu for the Feb.2 game.
Three Washington Redskins were named to the team: running back Terry Allen and punter Matt Turk were first-time selections and linebacker Ken Harvey was picked for the third straight year.
The Carolina Panthers, in the playoffs in just their second year of existence, landed seven players on the NFC squad, including all three starting linebackers: Kevin Greene, Sam Mills and Lamar Lathon. Other Panthers were tight end Wesley Walls, kicker John Kasay, kick returner Michael Bates and backup cornerback Eric Davis.
Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith, a Virginia Tech alumnus, was picked as a starter for the AFC. Detroit wide receiver Herman Moore, a Virginia alumnus, will start for the NFC.
Tthe biggest stunner is not seeing Smith on the NFC roster for the first time in his seven-year career. Smith was beaten out by starters Allen, Barry Sanders of Detroit and reserve Ricky Watters of Philadelphia.
``I'm just not one of the best backs this year, I guess,'' Smith said. ``I'm not that surprised. I kind of expected it. That's the way it goes. For me, it means I've got to work a lot harder in the off-season.''
Washington's Allen averaged close to 100 yards through the first 10 games, but the eight-man defensive fronts used to stop him have taken their toll over the past four weeks.
Still, Allen's 1,197 yards are good enough for third in the NFC, behind fellow Pro Bowl selections Sanders (1,300) and Watters (1,237).
Turk leads the NFC with a 45.5 yard average and a 39.2 yard net and Harvey has registered nine sacks.
Only Dallas had more players named to the Pro Bowl than Carolina, a second-year franchise that already has clinched a playoff berth.
Carolina's linebackers have been the cornerstone of a defense that has allowed a league-low 188 points. Greene leads the NFC with 131/2 sacks and Lathon is second with 121/2. Mills leads the team with 122 tackles. Davis, the other Panthers defender picked, has picked off five passes in his past six games.
Walls leads all NFC tight ends with 50 receptions, Kasay leads the NFL with 126 points and Bates leads the league with a kickoff return average of 32 yards.
For the NFC, San Francisco wide receiver Jerry Rice and Green Bay defensive end Reggie White were selected for the 11th time each, tying the record set by offensive tackle Anthony Munoz.
The other NFC offensive starters were New Orleans tackle William Roaf, Minnesota guard Randall McDaniel, Detroit center Kevin Glover, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and Arizona fullback Larry Centers.
On defense, the other starters were Minnesota tackle John Randle, San Francisco tackle Bryant Young, Arizona cornerback Aeneas Williams, Green Bay safety LeRoy Butler and San Francisco safety Merton Hanks.
Denver led the AFC with seven players selected: quarterback John Elway, tight end Shannon Sharpe, tackle Gary Zimmerman and running back Terrell Davis as offensive starters, plus end Alfred Williams and free safety Steve Atwater as defensive starters. The backup Bronco was defensive tackle Michael Dean Perry.
For the AFC offense, other starters were wide receivers Carl Pickens of Cincinnati and Tony Martin of San Diego, New England tackle Bruce Armstrong, Houston guard Bruce Matthews, Kansas City guard Will Shields, Pittsburgh center Dermontti Dawson, Steelers running back Jerome Bettis and Kansas City fullback Kimble Anders.
The AFC starting defense also had tackles Cortez Kennedy of Seattle and Chester McGlockton of Oakland; linebackers Junior Seau of San Diego, Chad Brown of Pittsburgh and Derrick Thomas of Kansas City; cornerbacks Ashley Ambrose of Cincinnati and Dale Carter of Kansas City; and strong safety Carnell Lake of Pittsburgh.
AFC specialists included kicker Cary Blanchard and punter Chris Gardocki of Indianapolis, kick returner David Meggett of New England and special-teamer Henry Mills of Houston.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Smithby CNB