The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Thomas, Tucker earn NFL Pro Bowl nods
12.19.2019 | Football
Former Football letterwinners Earl Thomas (2008-09) and Justin Tucker (2008-11) were selected to the NFL Pro Bowl this week.
AUSTIN, Texas – Former Texas Football letterwinners Earl Thomas (2008-09) and Justin Tucker (2008-11) were selected to compete in the 2020 NFL Pro Bowl earlier this week. Both currently play for the Baltimore Ravens, who are 12-2 and have the best record in the NFL this season.
Thomas' selection is the seventh of his career, the most by a Longhorn. Only five other Longhorns have made at least five appearances in the Pro Bowl. It is Tucker's third selection and first since 2017. Texas has had at least one former player selected to compete in the NFL Pro Bowl in the last 19 seasons, the longest streak in school history. In total, the Longhorns have had 43 different Pro Bowlers representing 24 teams who have made a total of 108 appearances.
At Texas, Thomas was a three-year safety who started all 27 games of his career before declaring for the NFL Draft after his redshirt sophomore season. In 2009, his last season in Austin, Thomas was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which honors the nation's top defensive back, and a consensus first-team All-America selection. He posted 149 tackles (101 solo), eight tackles for loss, 10 interceptions, 33 pass breakups, five forced fumbles and blocked a punt during his UT career. The Orange, Texas native set the school's single-season record with eight interceptions during the 2009 campaign. He was drafted with the 14th pick in the first round by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Tucker, an Austin, Texas native, played in all 52 games during his four seasons on the Forty Acres. He made 40-of-48 (.833) field goal attempts and was 71-for-71 on PAT attempts to log 191 career points. His .833 field goal percentage is tied for the second-best mark in school history. A 2011 second-team All-Big 12 selection, his career highlight came during his senior season when he made the game-winning 40-yard field goal as time expired at Texas A&M, the sixth game-winning last-second field goal in school history at the time. Tucker was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Ravens in 2012. He is currently the most accurate kicker in NFL history (90.6%) and the only player in league history to convert more than 90% of his field goal tries (min. 100 attempts).
The 2020 Pro Bowl takes place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 26, 2020, at 2 p.m. CT.
