University of North Carolina Athletics
Peppers, Saturday Earn Pro Bowl Honors
December 30, 2009 | Football
Dec. 30, 2009
Former North Carolina standouts Julius Peppers and Jeff Saturday have been named to the 2010 NFL Pro Bowl.
For Peppers, it is his fifth selection in eight seasons with the Carolina Panthers. One of the league's top defensive ends, Peppers ranks 10th in the NFL with 10.5 sacks and has 39 tackles, five forced fumbles and one interception for a touchdown. Peppers was a first-team All-America at UNC and won the Lombardi Award as the nation's top lineman in 2001. Peppers was the No. 2 overall selection in the 2002 NFL Draft.
Saturday, a center for the Indianapolis Colts, earned a Pro Bowl bid for the fourth time in his career. Saturday is the leader of an offensive line that has allowed only 12 sacks in 578 pass attempts. The offense has produced its 12th consecutive season with 5,000+ total net yards. Saturday was recently featured in this New York Times story, which details the relationship between he and Pro Bowl quarterback Peyton Manning. Saturday was a two-time first-team All-ACC center at UNC and helped lead the Tar Heels to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 1996 (10-2) and 1997 (11-1). Undrafted out of college, Saturday eventually signed with the Colts in 1999.
The Pro Bowl will take place at Land Shark Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. It will be the first Pro Bowl held on the United States mainland since 1979; Honolulu's Aloha Stadium hosted 30 consecutive Pro Bowls beginning on Jan. 27, 1980. Kickoff of this year's game will be on Jan. 31, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. EDT, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.
