Jason Peters in ‘great Company,' Adds to Hall of Fame Case With 9th Pro Bowl Selection

Jason Peters didn’t just make his ninth Pro Bowl Tuesday evening. He continued to beef up his résumé for Canton.

Peters, who began his NFL career 12 years ago as an undrafted tight end with the Bills, joined some extraordinary company when he was picked to the Pro Bowl team for the ninth consecutive season in which he’s played.

Peters made the 2007 and 2008 Pro Bowl teams with the Bills and the 2009, 2010 and 2011 teams with the Eagles before missing 2012 with a ruptured Achilles. He bounced back to make the team in each of the last four seasons.

Only 13 offensive linemen in NFL history have made more Pro Bowls, including one current player — Joe Thomas of the Browns, who made his 10th this year. All but Thomas are enshrined in Canton.

Of the 12 offensive linemen who’ve made nine Pro Bowls and are eligible for the Hall of Fame, nine are enshrined in Canton and two of the other three only recently gained eligibility.

“It just humbles me," Peters said. "All the hard work that you put in through the offseason and throughout the season pays off. That’s the individual goal and all the work that you put in to get that honor, and that makes you feel good.”

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Even though Peters wasn’t acquired by the Eagles until his sixth NFL season, he’s tied for second in team history with seven Pro Bowl selections with two legends — Brian Dawkins and Hall of Famer Reggie White. Only Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik, with eight, has more.

“That’s some great company to be mentioned with those guys," Peters said. "It just makes you think about all the hard work you put in and it makes you feel good about yourself, because that’s some good company, the Brian Dawkins, the Reggie Whites, and all those guys. That’s crazy.”

Only one undrafted player in NFL history has made more Pro Bowls than Peters, and that’s the great Jim Otto, who made 12 conseutive Pro Bowls playing center for the Raiders in the 1960s and 1970s.

Willie Brown, Lou Groza, Warren Moon, Emlen Tunnell and Peters are tied for second-most Pro Bowls by undrafted players at nine.

Peters has a $500,000 Pro Bowl escalator in his contract, which bumps his base salaries up to $10.45 million in 2017 and $10.5 million in 2018.

Although Peters may not be quite as dominant as he once was, he remains a very consistent and powerful force at left tackle, protecting Carson Wentz’s blindside.

After Peters' injury-plagued 2015 season in which head coach Chip Kelly treated the offensive lineman no differently than any other player in terms of practice reps, the 34-year-old Peters benefitted greatly this year from Doug Pederson, who made sure to give Peters ample recovery time during the week.

Peters, Jason Kelce and Wentz are the Eagles’ only offensive players to start all 16 games this year.

“Jason Peters is a dominant football player,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said Tuesday. “And he's still playing at a dominant level.”

Even missing the 2012 season, Peters' current streak of four consecutive Pro Bowl seasons is the eighth-longest in Eagles history, trailing only White (seven), Pete Pihos (six), Bednarik, Donovan McNabb, Mike Quick, Tommy McDonald and Troy Vincent (five) and Eric Allen (four).

The Eagles acquired Peters from the Bills in the spring of 2009 for three picks, including a first-round choice in 2009.

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