Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown and safety Troy Polamalu have been selected to the 2014 Pro Bowl team, announced tonight by the NFL. The Steelers are sending multiple players to the Pro Bowl for the 13th straight season and for the 22nd time in the last 25 seasons.
The Pro Bowl will be played Sunday, January 26, 2014, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, and will be televised live on NBC at 7 p.m. (ET). For the first time ever, the Pro Bowl is "unconferenced," so players were selected without regard to conference by a combined voting of fans, players and coaches.
This year, players will be assigned to teams by a Pro Bowl Draft. Two NFL.com fantasy football champions, the top two leading vote-getters, and Pro Football Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders will select the teams in the draft process.
Brown, who was selected as both a wide receiver and punt returner but will be 'drafted' as a wide receiver, will participate in the Pro Bowl for the second time of his career (following the 2011 season). He has already established career highs in receptions (101), receiving yards (1,412) and receiving touchdowns (8) this season. Brown recently became just the second receiver in team history to record 100 receptions in a single season, and his 1,412 receiving yards are a team record for a single season. He was named 2013 Steelers' Most Valuable Player earlier this week for the second time in his career (2011).
Polamalu has earned his eighth Pro Bowl selection (following the 2004-08 and 2010-11 seasons). He recorded his 32nd career interception earlier this season to put him in a tie for seventh place on the team's all-time interceptions list. Polamalu also recorded his fifth career defensive touchdown, which is tied for second place on the team's all-time defensive touchdowns list. He has also established a career high with five forced fumbles on the year. For his Week 12 performance at Cleveland, Polamalu was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.
A HISTORY OF STEELERS PRO BOWL RECEIVERS
| Player | Year | GP | No. | Yds. | Avg. | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack McClairen | 1957 | 12 | 46 | 630 | 13.7 | 2 |
| Jimmy Orr | 1959 | 12 | 35 | 604 | 17.3 | 5 |
| Buddy Dial | 1961 | 14 | 53 | 1,047 | 19.8 | 12 |
| Gary Ballman | 1964 | 13 | 47 | 935 | 19.9 | 7 |
| Gary Ballman | 1965 | 14 | 40 | 859 | 21.5 | 5 |
| Roy Jefferson | 1968 | 14 | 58 | 1,074 | 18.5 | 11 |
| Roy Jefferson | 1969 | 114 | 67 | 1,079 | 16.1 | 9 |
| Ron Shanklin | 1973 | 13 | 30 | 711 | 23.7 | 10 |
| Lynn Swann | 1975 | 14 | 49 | 781 | 15.9 | 11 |
| Lynn Swann | 1977 | 14 | 50 | 789 | 15.8 | 7 |
| Lynn Swann | 1978 | 16 | 61 | 880 | 14.4 | 11 |
| John Stallworth | 1979 | 16 | 70 | 1,183 | 16.9 | 8 |
| John Stallworth | 1982 | 9 | 27 | 441 | 16.3 | 7 |
| John Stallworth | 1984 | 16 | 80 | 1,395 | 17.4 | 11 |
| Louis Lipps | 1985 | 16 | 59 | 1,134 | 19.2 | 12 |
| Yancey Thigpen | 1995 | 16 | 85 | 1,307 | 15.4 | 5 |
| Yancey Thigpen | 1997 | 16 | 79 | 1,398 | 17.7 | 7 |
| Hines Ward | 2001 | 16 | 94 | 1,003 | 10.7 | 4 |
| Hines Ward | 2002 | 16 | 112 | 1,329 | 11.9 | 12 |
| Hines Ward | 2003 | 16 | 95 | 1,163 | 12.2 | 10 |
| Hines Ward | 2004 | 16 | 80 | 1,004 | 12.6 | 4 |
| Mike Wallace | 2011 | 16 | 72 | 1,193 | 16.6 | 8 |
| Antonio Brown | 2013 | 15 | 101 | 1,412 | 14.0 | 8 |
