{"id":4863,"date":"2016-01-10T09:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-01-10T17:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/mack-an-all-pro-at-2-positions\/"},"modified":"2016-01-10T09:00:49","modified_gmt":"2016-01-10T17:00:49","slug":"mack-an-all-pro-at-2-positions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/mack-an-all-pro-at-2-positions\/","title":{"rendered":"Mack an All-Pro at 2 positions"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK<\/strong> \u2014 Khalil Mack has made All-Pro history.<\/p>\n

Mack\u2019s versatility and relentlessness earned him selection at two positions on the 2015 Associated Press All-Pro Team, an NFL first. The second-year Oakland Raiders defensive end and outside linebacker drew enough support Friday from a panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league to make the squad in both spots.<\/p>\n

Others, including Houston\u2019s J.J. Watt last year, have been chosen first team at one position and second at another. Watt was a unanimous pick at defensive end for this season\u2019s team, as was Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do whatever I can to help the team win. I\u2019m a team guy,\u201d said Mack, who had 15 1\/2 sacks (five in one game), behind only Watt in the league. \u201cWhether it\u2019s dropping in coverage or rushing the passer. I can do either. I think they (voters) saw that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the voters also saw was the superb work by the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n

Carolina, with an NFL-best 15-1 record, had the most All-Pros with six: quarterback Cam Newton, fullback Mike Tolbert, center Ryan Kalil, linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis, and cornerback Josh Norman. Kuechly led the Panthers contingent with 49 votes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has fulfilled everything we thought he could be,\u201d Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman said of Newton. \u201cAnd he\u2019s just had a great year. Again, the franchise quarterbacks make everybody better \u2014 that\u2019s what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newton was especially happy to join Kuechly on the team; the linebacker has made it in three of his four pro seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s big, man,\u201d Newton said, adding with a laugh, \u201cI\u2019m just trying to be like Luke Kuechly man, that\u2019s it \u2014 Captain America, man. He sets the tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five teams \u2014 New England, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Arizona and St. Louis \u2014 had two All-Pros each. Steelers receiver Antonio Brown drew 49 votes; teammate David DeCastro made it at guard.<\/p>\n

The Patriots were tight end Rob Gronkowski and kicker Stephen Gostkowski. From Cincinnati, it was DT Geno Atkins and OT Andrew Whitworth. Arizona, in a measure of the strength of its secondary, had cornerback Patrick Peterson and safety Tyrann Mathieu. St. Louis\u2019 All-Pros were DT Aaron Donald and punter Johnny Hekker.<\/p>\n

One rookie, Seattle kick returner Tyler Lockett, was selected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means a lot,\u201d Lockett said. \u201cThere are a lot of great players who come in to the NFL and do an exceptional job and have a great career, but they\u2019re never able to make it on the All-Pro team. It\u2019s nothing that they did, just other players may have had a better season. To be a rookie to be able to come in, it\u2019s a crazy experience and a crazy accolade to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

In all, 15 NFC players and 12 from the AFC were chosen.<\/p>\n

The other All-Pros: Tampa Bay RB Doug Martin, Atlanta WR Julio Jones, Cleveland OT Joe Thomas, Baltimore G Marshal Yanda, Denver OLB Von Miller, San Francisco ILB NaVorro Bowman, and Kansas City S Eric Berry.<\/p>\n

For Berry, 2015 was a particularly special season. He was diagnosed with lymphoma and this time a year ago was undergoing chemotherapy. He returned in spectacular fashion, helping the Chiefs win their final 10 games this season to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible honor. It means a lot to me,\u201d said Berry, who also made the 2013 team. \u201cFootball\u2019s a team game, so I have to give credit to those guys around me as well. We\u2019ve been hungry from the get-go. I don\u2019t know how to explain it, but I think you see it throughout our play. I think our play speaks for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman is another player coming off a courageous comeback from a major knee injury sustained in the 2013 NFC title game. He only returned to the field this season after being an All-Pro in 2011, \u201812 and \u201813.<\/p>\n

Newcomers to the team along with Mack and Lockett are Newton, Norman and Davis among the Panthers, plus Jones, Whitworth, Martin, DeCastro, Donald and Mathieu.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s another goal check off my list,\u201d Norman said. \u201cIt really is. It went from Pro Bowl to All-Pro to hopefully Defensive Player of the Year. Sheesh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is all personal goals, though. The Super Bowl is the granddaddy of them all. I\u2019m working so hard toward that right now. All of these other accolades will fall into place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 Khalil Mack has made All-Pro history. Mack\u2019s versatility and relentlessness earned him selection at two positions on the 2015 Associated Press All-Pro Team, an NFL first. The second-year Oakland Raiders defensive end and outside linebacker drew enough support Friday from a panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-4863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4863\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4863"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=4863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}