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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 10:42 a.m., Monday, February 4, 2008

Browns' Anderson replaces Tom Brady in Pro Bowl

By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

CLEVELAND — Two more Cleveland Browns are headed to Hawai'i for the Pro Bowl. Not bad for a team that didn't even make the playoffs.

Browns quarterback Derek Anderson will replace New England's Tom Brady and tight end Kellen Winslow will sub for San Diego's Antonio Gates on the AFC's roster for the Feb. 10 game in Honolulu.

Brady, sacked five times by the New York Giants and pounded throughout Sunday's Super Bowl, has been bothered by a tender ankle. In a release, the Browns did not provide a reason for Anderson replacing the Patriots star.

With Anderson and Winslow making the trip, the Browns will have six players in the Pro Bowl, the club's most since sending six in 1994.

Anderson, who began the season as Charlie Frye's backup, threw for 3,787 yards and 29 touchdown passes while going 10-5 as a starter for Cleveland, which was edged out of a playoff spot because of a tiebreaker.

Despite playing on bad knees and with a separated shoulder, Winslow led the Browns with 82 receptions and had 1,106 receiving yards, the most by a Cleveland tight end. He'll undergo another surgery — his fourth since 2004 — on his right knee after the Pro Bowl.

Winslow had postponed the operation in anticipation of replacing Gates, who sustained a toe injury during the playoffs.

Anderson and Winslow will join Browns kick returner Joshua Cribbs, wide receiver Braylon Edwards, long snapper Ryan Pontbriand and offensive tackle Joe Thomas in Hawaii. Before this season, the Browns had not had a player selected for the Pro Bowl since linebacker Jamir Miller in 2001.

"We're excited the Browns will have such a presence at the Pro Bowl this year," general manager Phil Savage said in a statement.

The Browns recently offered Anderson, who is scheduled to become a restricted free agent, a multiyear contract. If he does not accept the deal, the club is expected to sign him to a one-year $2.6 million tender.

Anderson is the first Cleveland quarterback to make the Pro Bowl since Bernie Kosar in 1987.