Five Former Alabama Football Players Named to 2021 Pro Bowl

All five players hail from teams of the AFC, with three coming from offense and two from the defensive side of the football

Joey Blackwell | Dec 21, 2020

The accolades of former Alabama football players in the NFL continues to rise.

The NFL announced its rosters for both the AFC and NFC teams for the 2021 Pro Bowl on Monday afternoon. Among the 88 all-star players were five former Alabama players, with all five of them hailing from AFC teams.

Two former Crimson Tide running backs made the AFC Pro Bowl roster in Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans and Josh Jacobs of the Las Vegas Raiders. So far this season for the Titans, Henry leads the NFL in rushing yards with 1,679. He is also tied with Minnesota Vikings running back Dalvin Cook for the most rushing touchdowns in the league with 15.

After a stellar first-year campaign with the then-Oakland Raiders, Jacobs has continued his success in the team's new home of Las Vegas. This season, Jacobs has rushed for 907 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The only other former Alabama player on offense represented in the Pro Bowl was Indianapolis Colts center Ryan Kelly, who played for Alabama from 2011-2015. Kelly also represented his Colts in the 2019 Pro Bowl.

On defense, two former Crimson Tide players will be representing their pro teams in Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey and Pittsburgh Steelers free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Humphrey is currently third on the Ravens roster in total tackles with 75 but has amassed a very impressive eight forced fumbles on the season.

Fitzpatrick revitalized the Steelers defense last season after he was traded to Pittsburgh from the Miami Dolphins. Fitzpatrick is currently third on the Steelers roster in tackled with 59. However, he also leads the team in interceptions with four including one returned for a touchdown.

The 2021 NFL Pro Bowl was originally scheduled for Jan. 31, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic has been restructured into a week-long virtual event featuring the players of the Pro Bowl rosters being played on Madden 21, an NFL video game.

Here are the full rosters for both the AFC and NFC teams in this season's NFL Pro Bowl:

Published Dec 21, 2020

JOEY BLACKWELL

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.