METAIRIE, La. -- Mark Ingram likes to say that he and teammate Alvin Kamara are "in the business of making history."
Well, the New Orleans Saints running backs might do just that on Tuesday night if both are selected to the NFC Pro Bowl roster.
According to research by ESPN Stats & Information and the Elias Sports Bureau, it appears that no two running backs from the same team have been selected to the Pro Bowl in at least 42 years (unless you count the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Warrick Dunn and Mike Alstott in 1997 and 2000, when Alstott was selected as a fullback).
It seems easy to say that Alstott shouldn't count. But it becomes harder to distinguish fullbacks from running backs the further you go back in history, since stars such as Jim Brown, Larry Csonka and Franco Harris were listed as fullbacks. So ESPN and Elias used 100 rushing attempts as the standard for their research.
By that measure, Dunn and Alstott qualify. Before that, the most recent duo to make the Pro Bowl from the same backfield with 100-plus rushing attempts was the St. Louis Cardinals' Jim Otis and Terry Metcalf in 1975. The Miami Dolphins' Csonka and Mercury Morris went to the Pro Bowl twice together in the early 1970s as a running back/fullback duo -- one of the most famous in NFL history.
Regardless of what standard you use to define a running back, it's clear that Ingram and Kamara are doing things that have never been done before. As I wrote two weeks ago, they are on pace to become the first RB duo in NFL history to each surpass 1,500 yards from scrimmage. (The only duo with 1,400 yards each was the Cleveland Browns' Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack in 1985).
Ingram, who turns 28 Thursday, has already set career highs with 1,045 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He also has 51 receptions for 375 yards.
Kamara is already the third rookie in NFL history with more than 600 rushing and receiving yards (652 and 684, to be exact), with a total of 12 touchdowns.
Kamara leads the NFL with 6.6 yards per carry. Ingram ranks third among all running backs and second among NFC running backs with 5.1 yards per carry.
In order for both of them to make the Pro Bowl, their stiffest competition will likely come from Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard (1,069 rushing yards, 120 receiving yards, 7 TDs) or the Atlanta Falcons' Devonta Freeman (806, 212, 7). The NFC has three RB spots, and one of them will almost certainly go to NFL MVP contender Todd Gurley II of the Los Angeles Rams.
Kamara and Ingram finished second and third behind Gurley among NFC running backs in the fan voting, which makes up two-thirds of the selection process. NFL players and coaches provide the other votes.
"What [Kamara] has been able to accomplish as a rookie, nobody's been able to accomplish that in a long time. He definitely deserves to be there," Ingram said. "And I hope that my peers and my teammates believe that I should be in, as well. You know Todd Gurley, he's definitely gonna be there. Jordan Howard, he's had a big year as well. So you have a number of great backs in this league.
"It's not easy to make a Pro Bowl. It's not easy to make All-Pro. It's not easy to have success in this league. So I admire all the guys who do well in this league because it's tough. And I have the utmost respect for the guys in this league. So whoever's there, that’s what it is. But I definitely hope me and Alvin are there.
"I don’t know if it's ever happened before, but we're in the business of making history, so hopefully that's the case."
Ingram was a Heisman trophy winner at Alabama and a first-round draft choice by the Saints in 2011. But he has been something of a late bloomer in the NFL. He has made only one Pro Bowl -- as an alternate after the 2014 season -- and finally had his first 1,000-yard rushing season with 1,043 yards last year.
Ingram said last year that he planned to get jerseys of all his offensive linemen and frame them in his home to commemorate that achievement.
"Man, it's truly a blessing. God is good," Ingram said of the back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. "Starting off my career, it's something that I always wanted to do. And I just gotta thank the Lord for this opportunity, putting me on this platform. And my teammates, my coaches, anybody who's ever blocked for me, my receivers, fullbacks, tight ends. There's a lot of hands that go into having two seasons like that. So I'm very appreciative."
Kamara has gotten most of the attention this season since he is the shiny new breakout star. But Ingram's career-best season has hardly gone unnoticed.
When asked last week about how Ingram deserves recognition, too, Saints quarterback Drew Brees replied by saying, "Thank you" to the reporter.
"Mark's having a phenomenal year, and Mark's heart and soul, man. He is one of the heart and soul guys in this locker room," Brees said. "I mean someone who everyone respects, who everyone roots for, wants to block for, wants to hand off to, wants to be successful. Just because we see the way he works and we see his approach. There's not a more-liked guy, not a guy who works harder, or is just more positive. He creates great energy around the locker room and on game day. Man, just a great guy to be around and a guy you want to win for."
Pro Bowl selections aren't the most accurate way to judge a player's worth in the NFL, since it often comes down to name recognition, popularity and a team's overall success.
But Tuesday night's announcement should be a celebration of the Saints' success during their 10-4 season after they had zero players selected to the initial Pro Bowl rosters in 2015 or 2016 (DE Cameron Jordan went as an alternate in '15 and Brees went as an alternate in '16).
Jordan and Brees should both be invited back this year. As I wrote last week, Michael Thomas deserves to be the Saints' first Pro Bowl receiver in the Brees/Sean Payton era -- especially after his monster performance in Sunday’s 31-19 victory over the New York Jets.
And there are several other possibilities, including rookie cornerback Marshon Lattimore and the Saints' entire offensive line.