Five Chiefs players make the Pro Bowl

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jamaal Charles received an early birthday present on Wednesday evening, the day before his 26th birthday.

He and four of his teammates made the AFC roster for the Pro Bowl. Charles is joined by safety Eric Berry, punter Dustin Colquitt and linebackers Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson. Hali and Johnson received the honor last season as well. Berry and Charles are also previous Pro Bowlers.

Complete 2013 NFL Pro Bowl rosters http://bit.ly/UnYANj

Berry and Hali are 2013 Pro Bowl starters. Berry will be accompanied by fellow AFC starters Ed Reed (FS-Baltimore), Champ Bailey (CB-Denver) and Johnathan Joseph (CB-Houston) in the defensive backfield.

Denver’s Von Miller will start with Hali at outside linebacker while New England’s Jerod Mayo gets the starting gig at inside/middle linebacker.

Johnson and Robert Mathis (OLB-Indianapolis) round out the linebacker squad as reserves.

Charles  is joined on the AFC running back crew by starter Arian Foster (Houston) and Ray Rice (Baltimore).

The five Pro Bowlers for the Chiefs are tied for the most in the AFC West (Denver) and fourth-most in the AFC (Houston-8, New England 7, Baltimore 6).

Some of Kansas City’s honorees may not be celebrating the selections, though. Charles and Hali are both sick with an illness that is traveling around the Chiefs locker room. Head Coach Romeo Crennel sent Charles home on Wednesday with nausea. Donald Stephenson is also sick.

The NFL All-Star game will be played Sunday, Jan. 27 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

Charles last made the Pro Bowl in 2010, when five players were chosen from the AFC West Champion Chiefs. They were Matt Cassel, Dwayne Bowe, Eric Berry, Brian Waters and Charles.

Charles leads the AFC with 1,456 yards this season on 271 carries. That’s an average of 5.4 yards per carry. He also has five touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who missed nearly all of last season with an ACL injury.

The Chiefs running back currently stands in first place for the highest yards-per-carry average. Charles just became eligible for the mark after going over 750 carries in last Sunday’s 20-13 loss against the Indianapolis Colts.

He’s now ahead of former Cleveland Browns great Jim Brown with a 5.82 yards-per-carry average. Brown’s average was 5.22.

Former Chief and current Falcon TE Tony Gonzalez set the record for Pro Bowls at his position by being chosen for the 13th time.

San Francisco led the NFL with nine Pro Bowl selections.

Eight teams had no Pro Bowl players: Carolina, Philadelphia and St. Louis in the NFC, Tennessee, Buffalo, Jacksonville, San Diego and Oakland in the AFC.