Rookie linebacker Leighton Vander Esch’s remarkable rise from eight-man football in high school to college walk-on at Boise State to a first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys just got its exclamation point.
Vander Esch was named to the 2019 Pro Bowl roster, replacing Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, who is not playing because of an injury.
Vander Esch, who set the Cowboys’ rookie record for tackles in a season with 176 and was a second-team All-Pro selection, was a first alternate to the Pro Bowl.
He becomes the first Cowboys defensive rookie in 37 years to make the Pro Bowl since cornerback Everson Walls in 1981 and only third ever in franchise history.