Hurricanes Lead All Programs with Six Pro Bowl Selections
Updated Jan. 20, 2012
Dec. 27, 2011
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The National Football League announced its 2012 Pro Bowl Rosters on Tuesday and the Miami Hurricanes lead all NCAA programs with seven players chosen to play in the annual all-star contest on Jan. 29 in Hawai’i.
The Ravens’ Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, the Saints’ Jimmy Graham, the Patriots’ Vince Wilfork, San Francisco’s Frank Gore, Denver’s Willis McGahee and the Texans’ Chris Myers make up seven of the 13 players from the Atlantic Coast Conference to earn a trip to the Pro Bowl.
McGahee and Myers were orginally named alternates for the Pro Bowl and were added to the roster on Jan. 20. McGahee replaces an injured Arian Foster (Houston Texans) and Myers replaces an injured Maurkice Pouncey (Pittsburgh Steelers).
The seven selections for Miami are more than all other schools and surpass the total of the every other state school combined. UCF, Florida State, USF and Florida each have one selection. Pittsburgh was the second-most represented college football program with four players. Michigan, Ole Miss, Georgia, Cal and USC earned three selections apiece.
Last season, Miami was represented by 10 players that were on the Pro Bowl roster and in 2010, a record 11 Hurricanes earned the honor.
Lewis has been named to the Pro Bowl in 12 of the last 14 seasons, including six straight. Reed has also been named to six straight Pro Bowls, while Wilfork have been in the last three. Gore will be making his third appearance (2007, 2010), while Graham is making his first appearance in just his second professional season.
Lewis’ 12th selections puts him in elite company among several NFL legends including fellow UM alum and NFL Hall of Famer Jim Otto.
According to NFL.com, Otto was voted to 12 straight Pro Bowls from 1961 to 1972 as a part of the Oakland Raiders.
Merlin Olsen and Bruce Matthews own the NFL record with 14 Pro Bowl appearances. Jerry Rice and Reggie White both went to 13 Pro Bowls, while Lewis achievement ties him with Otto, Ken Huston, Randall McDaniel, Will Shields and Junior Seau
Denver Bronco McGahee, who rushed for 1,000 yards with his third NFL team, was named a Pro Bowl alternate, as were Houston Texans Myers and Andre Johnson and Chicago Bear Devin Hester.
Former UM alums Arizona Cardinal Calais Campbell, New Orleans Saint Jon Vilma and Carolina Panther teammates Greg Olsen & Jeremy Shockey all had superb seasons but were not named alternates.
The Pro Bowl will be played on Jan. 29, 2011 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawai`i and will be broadcast by Fox.
