Seahawks Land Six on Pro Bowl Roster

The Seattle Seahawks will be sending six players to this year's Pro Bowl. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, tackle Walter Jones, defensive end Patrick Kerney, linebackers Julian Peterson and Lofa Tatupu and cornerback Marcus Trufant were selected Tuesday to represent the club in the 2008 Pro Bowl. All but Hasselbeck were named starters.
For Jones, this will mark his seventh consecutive trip to the NFL's annual all-star game, tying a club record with his eighth overall (1999, 2001-07). Cortez Kennedy also made the trip to Honolulu eight times during his 11-year playing career.
Hasselbeck will make his third trip to the Pro Bowl and has already set the club's single-season record for completions (319) and is on pace to set the mark for attempts and yards. He needs 23 attempts (Dave Krieg 531 in 1985) and 222 yards (Hasselbeck 3,841 in 2003) and needs two more touchdown passes for a career high.
This marks the first time since 1999 Seattle will send more defensive players than offensive players to the Pro Bowl when LB Chad Brown, Kennedy and Jones were selected. Four defensive players are the most since 1998 when Brown, Kennedy, DE Michael Sinclair and CB Shawn Springs were selected.
Tatupu turns in the hat trick and returns to the Pro Bowl for the third time in as many seasons. He leads the team in tackles with 101 and is the first player since Chad Brown (1997-99) to lead the team three-consecutive seasons. He has helped Seattle's defense rank fifth in the NFL allowing just 17.2 points a game. His four interceptions are second on the team and he was named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week 13 after leading the team with 11 tackles and three interceptions.
Peterson has turned his second season with the Seahawks into a second-consecutive Pro Bowl season, fourth overall (San Francisco in 2003-04). Peterson is second on the team with 9.0 sacks and fifth in the NFL among linebackers. He is fourth on the team with 68 tackles and also has tied a career high with two interceptions.
Kerney, who leads the NFL with 13.5 sacks, turns his first season with Seattle into a Pro Bowl selection. His 26 quarterback hits leads the team and was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November after totaling 7.0 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. He notched three 3.0-sack games in a four-week stretch (Weeks 11-14) becoming the first player in NFL history to accomplish the feat.
Trufant, a Tacoma native, earns his first Pro Bowl selection after tying for the NFC lead with a career-high seven interceptions. He is also second on the team with 77 tackles.
WR Nate Burleson, who graduated locally from O'Dea High School, was selected as an alternate as a kickoff/punt return specialist.
The Pro Bowl will be held on Sunday, Feb. 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii.