Starting left guard Isaac Seumalo became the sixth Pittsburgh Steelers player added to the AFC roster for the NFL Pro Bowl games.
Seumalo will replace guard Trey Smith, whose Kansas City Chiefs advanced to the Super Bowl and therefore won’t participate in the Pro Bowl festivities this weekend in Orlando.
In his second season with the Steelers, Seumalo started the final 14 games (including playoffs) after missing the start of the season because of a pectoral injury. The 31-year-old was in the second season of a three-year, $24 million contract after spending his first seven seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Seumalo was by far the most experienced member of an offensive line that started two rookies and one second-year player.
After 11 career games (90 starts), this is Seumalo’s first Pro Bowl recognition.
Kicker Chris Boswell, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and outside linebacker T.J. Watt were Steelers named to the initial Pro Bowl roster, although Watt has since declined to participate citing injury. Special-teams captain Miles Killebrew last week was added to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement.
Since the NFL abandoned the actual football game between the AFC and NFC teams, the Pro Bowl morphed into a pair of days of events featuring skills contests and competitions such as tug-of-war. There is a flag football game between conference representatives on Sunday.