CHARLOTTE – Panthers left tackle Jordan Gross is again heading to the Pro Bowl.
Gross was one of three offensive tackles selected to represent the NFC in the game, which will be played the Sunday before the Super Bowl for the second consecutive season. The Pro Bowl will kick off Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, and will be broadcast by FOX.
Gross was selected for the second time in three seasons. If not for an injury, he might well be celebrating his third consecutive selection.
Gross made the Pro Bowl team for the first time following the 2008 season and was well on his way to a second straight honor last season before when he suffered a broken right tibia and fibula that sent him to injured reserve.
He bounced back from the injury, however, to play in every game this season and was the Panthers' 2010 recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.
The Panthers have struggled to score points this season, but Gross is part of the reason they still have managed to rank 14th in the NFL with 113.9 rushing yards per game heading into Sunday's season finale at Atlanta.
"Although this season has not gone the way anyone hoped it would, I'm honored to be selected to the Pro Bowl," Gross said. "It's been a long 12 months coming back from an major injury, and to be selected to the Pro Bowl by my peers is such an honor. I feel very blessed."
Gross, in his eighth season out of the University of Utah, was Carolina's first-round pick - No. 8 overall - in the 2003 NFL Draft.
The Panthers have now had at least one Pro Bowl selection in 14 of their 16 seasons. They didn't have a player selected in 2007 or in their inaugural season of 1995.
