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IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys equipment room staff was packing up Flozell Adams' helmet and pads Tuesday, preparing the gear for a tropical vacation. Adams was added to the Pro Bowl Tuesday, his fifth trip to Hawaii in six years.
The 6-7, 340-pounder is expected to start the game for the NFC after Seattle's Walter Jones and Washington's Chris Samuels backed out because of injury. Adams has made the Pro Bowl every year since 2003, except for 2005 when he suffered a torn right anterior cruciate ligament, ending his season in October.
Adams, 33, was scheduled to become a free agent on March 1, 2008, but signed a six-year extension worth north of $43 million just two days before he would have hit the market.
It was, by most accounts, a down season for the entire Cowboys offensive line, the 11-year left tackle Adams included. Kyle Kosier's injury forced Adams to work alongside fill-in guards for most of the way, and he had more trouble with pass rushers and false start penalties than in some years past.
As criticized as the Cowboys offensive line was in 2008, though, the group did pave the way for 1,723 rushing yards with a 4.3-yard average. The Cowboys had 3,988 passing yards as a team, and Tony Romo was sacked only 20 times in 13 appearances. Backup quarterbacks Brad Johnson and Brooks Bollinger were sacked 11 times in three games.
This is Adams' second addition to the Pro Bowl because of injury to another player. He was added to the annual game after the 2006 season as a replacement for Jamaal Brown of New Orleans. Carolina's Jordan Gross is expected to start opposite Adams.
Though Adams will now be making the trip to Honolulu, another Cowboys lineman who earned it will not be going. Right guard Leonard Davis has backed out of the game with a minor foot injury that will not require surgery. It was the second straight Pro Bowl selection for Davis since joining the Cowboys before the 2007 season.
Center Andre Gurode will start the game for the second straight year. It will be Gurode's third Pro Bowl appearance in a row.
Three other Cowboys will start the game as well. Tight end Jason Witten was voted a Pro-Bowler for the fifth season in a row, while linebacker DeMarcus Ware is making his third consecutive appearance and nose tackle Jay Ratliff is headed to Hawaii for the first time.
Three other Cowboys could potentially be added to the game as injury replacements. Romo was the second alternate, while linebacker Greg Ellis and safety Ken Hamlin were both third alternates. All three went to Hawaii last year, when the Cowboys had 13 Pro-Bowlers.
The annual all-star game will be played in Miami the week before Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, but is expected to rotate between Hawaii and the mainland on an annual basis after that.
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Josh Ellis - 
