The NFL announced the full AFC and NFC Pro Bowl rosters late last night. You can check out the full rosters here.
For the Cowboys, DeMarcus Ware and Jay Ratliff were named as starters. Ware had been the only Cowboy who had already taken the lead at his position in this year's fan voting for the Pro Bowl. Coupled with his stellar on-field performance, his nomination as a starter does not come as a surprise.
"It's a great honor to be selected to play in the Pro Bowl," Ware said in a press release. "It shows that all the work through the offseason and season pays off. It's special because you are selected by the fans, your peers and coaches around the league. I am excited to represent the Dallas Cowboys and the entire NFL in the game. Since my rookie season, I always strived on working hard, being consistent and playing at a high level, and it really means something on a personal level to be rewarded."
Jay Ratliff on the other hand did not even make the top five at his position in the fan voting. The Pro Bowl teams are selected based on the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches, each of which counts one-third toward determining the final 43-man rosters for the Pro Bowl. The fact that Ratliff is now the starter at his position means he got a significant chunk of the players and coaches votes that allowed him to leapfrog the likes of Detroit's Ndamukong Suh, Philly's Cullen Jenkins and Green Bay's B.J. Raji, who had all been ahead of him in the fan vote.
In the NFC East, the Giants have two Pro Bowlers in Eli Manning and Jason Pierre-Paul, the Eagles have three nominees in Jason Babin, Jason Peters and LeSean Mccoy and the Redskins don't have a Pro Bowl player this year, joining Buffalo, Tennessee and St. Louis as the only teams without a Pro Bowler this season.
There is still a chance that more Cowboys could be added to the Pro Bowl roster as alternates. The NFL does not publicize the list of alternates, but the league does inform each team about which players will serve as alternates when some of the nominated players decline to attend, are injured or are playing in the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys typically do not reveal which of their players are on the alternate list, but it's likely that the list would contain some or all of the following: Tony Romo, Jason Witten, Tyron Smith, Sean Lee and Dan Bailey.