Jacksonville Jaguars running back Fred Taylor has been added to the 2008 Pro Bowl roster for the first time, replacing Willie Parker of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Taylor had been selected as the first alternate at running back for the second consecutive year in voting by coaches, players and fans. The Pro Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, February 10 and televised by FOX.
It will mark Taylor's first Pro Bowl appearance in his 10-year career. Taylor is the first Jaguars offensive player to make the Pro Bowl since Jimmy Smith was named a starter in 2001. Taylor is the club's career, single-season and single-game rushing leader. He ranked fifth in the AFC in rushing in 2007 with 1,202 yards on 223 carries and led the AFC with a 5.4 average per rush. Taylor tied for first in the NFL with four rushes of 50-plus yards and finished with two of the four longest rushes in the NFL this season. He ranked fourth in the NFL with 36 rushes of 10-plus yards.
Taylor rushed for 100-plus yards in five consecutive games to close out the regular season, the only NFL player to record five straight 100-plus rushing games. He rushed for a season-high 147 yards on 25 carries at Pittsburgh on 12/16, his most since he had 165 on 10/30/05 at St. Louis.
Taylor had several highlights in 2007 including:
• Became the 21st player in NFL history to reach 10,000 career rushing yards as he accomplished the feat on 11/11 at Tennessee.
• Surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season at Pittsburgh on 12/16, his seventh career season with 1,000 rushing yards. The seven are tied for the ninth-most in NFL history.
• Broke free for a team-record 80-yard touchdown run against Carolina on 12/9 in the fourth quarter. Had a 76-yard run against Houston on 10/14.
• Tied Jimmy Smith for the most touchdowns in team history with 69.
• Set franchise record for yards from scrimmage against San Diego on 11/18, surpassing Jimmy Smith (12,285), and surpassed Smith for the most all-purpose yards in team history on 12/23 vs. Oakland.
• Rushed for 1,202 yards in 2007, the sixth-most by a player at age 31 or older since 2000.
• Rushed for 147 yards against Pittsburgh, the most rushing yards by an opposing back in Heinz Field history. Taylor also owns the Three Rivers Stadium record with 234 rushing yards on 11/19/00.
Taylor ranks among the best in NFL history in several categories including:
• 17th with 10,715 rushing yards.
• 8th in rushing yards per game (84.4).
• 10th in yards from scrimmage per game (102.2) and 36th in NFL history with a team-record 12,978 yards from scrimmage.
• 5th with 311 rushes of 10-plus yards.
• 4th with 13 rushes of 50-plus yards.
• Tied with the third-best yards per carry average (4.7) among the top 25 rushers in NFL history.
• One of only 28 players with 2,000-plus carries.