New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees received 951,246 votes to lead all NFL All-Stars in fan balloting for the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl presented by State Farm, NFL.com announced Thursday. Fan voting ended on Tuesday, Dec. 9.
The AFC and NFC All-Star squads are based on the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group's vote counts one-third toward determining the 43-man rosters that represent the two conferences in the Pro Bowl. NFL players and coaches will cast their votes on Dec. 11-12.
New York Jets quarterback Brett Favre (880,833 votes) ranks second overall, while New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning (821,852 votes), Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis (767,817 votes) and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner (673,710 votes) round out the top five on NFL.com.
The teams will be announced at 4 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Dec. 16 on a special NFL Total Access 2009 NFL Pro Bowl Selection Show on NFL Network. The 2009 NFL Pro Bowl presented by State Farm will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, Feb. 8 and televised by NBC.
The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams. It was the first professional sports league to offer online all-star voting in 1995.
