No Carolina Panthers selected to 2024 Pro Bowl, including DL Derrick Brown
Don’t be surprised if Carolina Panthers fans elect to skip the Pro Bowl this year.
The AFC and NFC player rosters for The Pro Bowl Games were announced on Wednesday evening, and no Panthers made it on the NFC side. Most prominent among those who didn’t receive the honor is defensive lineman Derrick Brown, who was listed as an alternate.
Other alternates included outside linebacker Brian Burns (second alternate), punter Johnny Hekker (third alternate) and longsnapper JJ Jansen (third alternate).
The rosters were unveiled Wednesday night on NFL Network.
It’s not necessarily surprising that players for the Panthers — 2-14 and fresh off their first shutout loss in two decades — didn’t get a whole bunch of consideration for a list that is considered one of the league’s top honors. But Brown’s absence from the list could be considered a snub.
The 6-foot-5, 269-pound interior defensive lineman has had his best season to date in 2023. Brown leads the NFL in tackles among defensive linemen with 96 — and he ranks second all-time among DLs for most tackles in a season, trailing only Miami’s Christian Wilkins, who notched 98 in 2022. It’s worth noting, too, that Brown could break that record Sunday, when the Panthers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their season finale.
Brown has added six tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and 13 quarterback hits on the year, and he’s the leading force for a defense that ranks third in the NFL in total yards allowed per game (298.1).
Various Panthers representatives have expressed that they were sure Brown would get the first Pro Bowl nod of his career this year. And they reiterated that during media availability Wednesday.
“I don’t call him ‘DB,’” interim head coach Chris Tabor said. “I call him Pro Bowl.”
When Burns was asked if he expected to hear Brown’s name on Wednesday, he shrugged matter of factly.
“If they were smart, they would,” Burns said. “I mean, he’s having an All-Pro season.”
Votes of fans, players and coaches were all considered in making these selections, with each group’s vote counting as one-third toward the ultimate determination. The fan vote concluded on Christmas Day, with NFL players and coaches casting their votes on Dec. 29.
Per the NFL, no players from Carolina landed in the Top 10 of fan votes at any position.
Among the other Panthers who had a legitimate candidacy this year included Burns, the pass rusher who’s notched seven sacks and has two Pro Bowls to his name (2021 and 2022), and Adam Thielen, who just surpassed 100 receptions and 1,000 yards for only the second time of his career — and did so despite his team’s abundant challenges on offense.
The Pro Bowl Games will take place Feb. 4 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. The event will be televised on ESPN.
Check out the full NFC roster and AFC roster on NFL.com.
This story was originally published January 3, 2024 at 8:24 PM.
