BALTIMORE — Lamar Jackson ended the Baltimore Ravens’ 23-year drought without a Pro Bowl quarterback, and the league’s top team celebrated an NFL-record-tying 12 players receiving invitations to the all-star event scheduled for Jan. 26 in Orlando, Florida.
Jackson, the front-runner for NFL Most Valuable Player, became the first Baltimore quarterback selected to to the Pro Bowl since Vinny Testaverde in 1996, the franchise’s inaugural season.
That marked the second-longest drought among active teams in the NFL. The only team that has currently gone longer without one is the Miami Dolphins, whose last Pro Bowl quarterback was Dan Marino in 1995, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In his first full season as an NFL starting quarterback, Jackson leads the NFL with 33 touchdown passes and has run for 1,103 yards, an NFL single-season record for a quarterback. He topped all players in this year’s Pro Bowl fan voting, receiving 704,699 votes (nearly 165,000 more than any other player).
The Ravens (12-2), who own the NFL’s best record, had never sent more than eight players to the Pro Bowl previously. Joining Jackson were six players from the league’s highest-scoring offense: running back Mark Ingram, tight end Mark Andrews, fullback Patrick Ricard, guard Marshal Yanda and offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley.
The other Pro Bowl players from Baltimore were cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Marlon Humphrey, safety Earl Thomas, outside linebacker Matthew Judon, long-snapper Morgan Cox and kicker Justin Tucker.
Players for the game are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 All-Star players selected to the Pro Bowl.