Giants left tackle David Diehl is heading to the Pro...

Giants left tackle David Diehl is heading to the Pro Bowl to replace other NFC players who won't play because they will be preparing for the Super Bowl. (File photo, 2009) Credit: Joe Rogate

The Giants haven't played in two weeks, but in that time, they've tripled their number of Pro Bowl players.

Tackle David Diehl and guard Chris Snee, selected as first alternates on the NFC roster, will be added to the team because of the timing of the game this year. Since it will be played the Sunday before the Super Bowl, any team preparing for the championship game will not send its representatives to the Pro Bowl.

Because the Saints and the Vikings each have a guard and a tackle on the existing roster, at least two of those players will be unable to attend the Pro Bowl. So Diehl and Snee will step in.

They'll join center Shaun O'Hara, who already had been selected to the Pro Bowl roster. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips will coach the NFC team.

The Giants sent O'Hara and Snee to the Pro Bowl last year, part of a seven-man delegation.

The Giants also might be able to add a fourth. Steve Smith, who led the NFC in receptions, is a first alternate. Sidney Rice of the Vikings is the only one of the four NFC receivers still alive in the playoffs. If the Vikings beat the Saints, then Smith would get to play in the Pro Bowl. He'd be the Giants' first Pro Bowl receiver since Homer Jones in 1968.

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