Pittsburgh Sports N'at

[Art2Gecko]

Roethlisberger, Harrison make Pro Bowl
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and linebacker James Harrison made their first Pro Bowls today and were among five Steelers who made the NFL's all-star team.

Harrison, in his first season as a starter after replacing Joey Porter at right outside linebacker, will start for the AFC. So, too, will guard Alan Faneca, elected to his seventh consecutive Pro Bowl.

The other Steelers to make the Pro Bowl, all as backups, are halfback Willie Parker and strong safety Troy Polamalu.

Parker, the NFL's leading rusher, made it for the second straight time. This was Polamalu's fourth consecutive Pro Bowl.

"It's a tremendous honor,'' Roethlisberger said after coach Mike Tomlin informed the team collectively of their five Pro Bowl players. "It's kind of a unit honor.

"It's always a goal to be recognized as one of the best, but not my biggest goal.''

Roethlisberger became the first quarterback to compile a 13-0 record as a starter in 2004, his rookie season. He became the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl the following year.

Then followed his infamous 2006. After a motorcycle accident and then an appendectomy, he followed with a mediocre season in which he led the NFL with 23 pass interceptions and his passer rating dropped more than 20 points to 75.4

Today, he's third in the AFC and fourth in the NFL with a 100.5 passer rating and has thrown just 11 interceptions vs. a team-record 29 touchdown passes.


"A lot of people wrote me off as a two-year kind of hit wonder,'' Roethlisberger said. "So it's good to be able to bounce back."