Since being voted to his first Pro Bowl on Tuesday, DeAngelo Williams had been as elusive with the media as would-be tacklers.

When he was finally cornered on Thursday, the Carolina Panthers running back seemed more interested in talking about teammate Jonathan Stewart.

Such as it is with this tight-knit duo that has a chance to make history on Sunday as the first set of backs since the NFL-AFL merger to each rush for 1,100 yards in a season.

"I didn't even know that," Williams said, looking surprised. "That's pretty cool."

Williams on Tuesday was voted to the Pro Bowl after being snubbed a year earlier. He has 1,117 yards despite missing two games and three quarters of another with sprained ankles.

Two days earlier, an injured Williams was both a fan and a calculator for Stewart, who set a team record with 206 yards rushing in Carolina's 41-9 rout of the New York Giants.

Williams kept telling Stewart on the sideline how many more yards he needed to reach 1,000 on the season. Stewart enters Sunday's season finale against New Orleans with 1,008 yards.

They are just the sixth set of teammates since the 1970 merger to rush for 1,000 yards each, but the third in the past four years. Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs of the New York Giants did it last season. Warrick Dunn and quarterback Michael Vick accomplished the feat in 2006 for Atlanta.

"That was one of our hidden goals because we saw that Derrick Ward and Brandon Jacobs did it last year," Williams said. "We knew that it was possible. Unfortunately I kind of got injured a little bit. But the fortunate thing about it is it allowed him to rush for 1,000 yards. I told him I was proud of him and he ran hard. He broke a lot of tackles that day and the O-line did a great job of blocking for him."

Now with 92 yards on Sunday, Stewart would reach 1,100 yards and give the duo an unsurpassed milestone. Not bad for a couple of guys who have been fighting injuries all season. Stewart hasn't practiced this week because of chronic pain in his left Achilles' tendon.

"It's very special," Stewart said of going over 1,000 yards. "That's something that me and DeAngelo cherish. The Double Trouble, the Smash and Dash and just our friendship."

The two small, strong, elusive former first-round picks became close friends last year when Williams took over as the starter and Stewart was a rookie. Williams shattered the team's single-season rushing record with 1,515 yards, while Stewart set the franchise's rookie mark with 836 yards. They also had a friendly nickname dispute with Tennessee's Chris Johnson and LenDale White.