LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. – The National Football League has announced that Redskins’ linebacker Brian Orakpo has been selected to the 2014 Pro Bowl in place of San Francisco linebacker Ahmad Brooks. Running back Alfred Morris has been selected as well in place of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch. The two Redskins join tackle Trent Williams — who was a first ballot selection — as the team’s Pro Bowl representatives for the 2013 season. The annual contest of the NFL’s best will take place Sunday, Jan. 26, 2014 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.
The selection is the third of Orakpo’s career, including selections in his first two NFL seasons following the 2009 and 2010 campaigns. With Orakpo’s selection, the Redskins have had at least one linebacker selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the last five seasons, matching the team’s longest stretch since linebacker Chris Hanburger accounted for five consecutive selections from 1972-76.
Orakpo, 27, started all 15 games in which he appeared in 2013, being credited by the coaching staff with 70 tackles (47 solo) and recording 10.0 sacks. The double-digit sacks were Orakpo’s most in a season since setting a Redskins rookie record with 11.0 sacks in 2009. Orakpo’s 10-sack season gave him 39.5 for his career, fifth-most in team history. The Houston native also recorded the first interception and first touchdown of his career in Week 7 vs. Chicago, returning an interception 29 yards for a score. The interception was the first of Orakpo’s life at any level.
The selection is the first of Morris’s career and he becomes the first Redskins running back selected to the Pro Bowl since Clinton Portis in 2008 and this selection is the 11th by a Redskins running back since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger (three by Larry Brown, two each by Earnest Byner and Stephen Davis, and one each by Mike Thomas, Terry Allen and Clinton Portis).
In 2013, Morris rushed for 1,275 rushing yards, the 11th most in a season in team history, on 276 carries (4.6 avg.). Morris rushed for 2,888 yards across the 2012-13 seasons, the ninth-most rushing yardage of any running back in his first two NFL seasons. His 2,888 rushing yards since 2012 are second-most in the NFL, and Morris is one of only four backs in the NFL to have surpassed 1,250 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons.
Morris, 25, was honored by the Redskins on Friday as the team’s recipient of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his community service and volunteer efforts as well as his excellence on the field.
Williams, also 25, is in his third season as an offensive captain for the Redskins. He has remained among the league’s top left tackles in his first four seasons since being selected No. 4 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.
“It’s a blessing,” Williams said. “I’m definitely excited about it… It means a lot. It lets me know my efforts didn’t go unseen. I know my teammates see it and my teammates feed off of it, but I’m definitely proud to see that my peers around the NFL recognized that also.”
Williams anchors an offensive line that has helped the Redskins rank second in the NFL in yards per rush (4.8) and fourth in the NFL in rushing yards per game (138.2). He has also helped running back Alfred Morris become the first Redskin to post consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons since Clinton Portis in 2007-08. The Redskins’ offense is on pace to post consecutive 6,000-yard offensive seasons for the first time in team history and the fourth highest yardage total in franchise history.
“Trent through the years has become a true professional,” Offensive Line Coach Chris Foerster said. “He continues to prepare and work hard every week. He takes on each game, his individual challenge. He’s really developed his preparation every week.”
After being selected to the Pro Bowl in 2012, Williams’ selection this season is the 15th by a Redskins offensive tackle since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, joining Chris Samuels (2001-02, 05-08), Jim Lachey (1990-91), Mark May (1988) and Joe Jacoby (1983-86). Between Williams and Samuels, Redskins left tackles have been selected to six of the last nine Pro Bowls. Williams joins Samuels, Lachey and Jacoby as the only Redskins tackles to make consecutive trips to the Pro Bowl since the merger.
With the Redskins’ selections this year, the team has had at least one Pro Bowl player for 20 straight seasons. The only year Washington has not had a Pro Bowler in team history was 1993.
Well done, men.
Hail.