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Colts don't have a player selected to the Pro Bowl for first time since 1997

INDIANAPOLIS -- You have to go back 20 years to find the last time that the Indianapolis Colts did not have a player selected for Pro Bowl.

That will be the case if one of their players isn't chosen as an alternate, because they didn't have anybody selected when the teams were announced Tuesday.

That's what happens when you have a 3-11 record, your skill position players struggle without your franchise quarterback and you don't have any healthy difference makers on defense. The Colts are ranked 31st in the NFL in total offense and 30th in total defense.

That's the 2017 Indianapolis Colts for you.

The last time the Colts didn't have a player selected to the Pro Bowl was 1997, which was a year before they selected Peyton Manning as the No. 1 overall pick and Andrew Luck was only 8 years old.

There's no legitimate argument for a Colts players snubbed by the Pro Bowl. Receiver T.Y. Hilton, who was selected to the team for three straight years, is only 19th in the NFL in receiving yards (852) after leading the league in that category with 1,448 yards last season.

The other possibilities could have been kicker Adam Vinatieri and rookie punter Rigoberto Sanchez. But Vinatieri is only 10th in field-goal percentage (88.9 percent) and has two missed extra points. Sanchez, an undrafted free agent signed to replace two-time Pro Bowler Pat McAfee, is fifth in the league in net average (42.5).

Alternates for the game will be announced at a later date.