Six Titans named to Pro Bowl, including Mawae and Johnson

After suffering a season-ending neck injury last year at Cincinnati, Tennessee Titans safety Chris Hope said he had doubts as to whether or not he could come back and be the same player again.

Those fears were alleviated, and Tuesday Hope reaped his reward as one of six Tennessee Titans players to be named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster.

Hope joins fellow first-timers in cornerback Cortland Finnegan, tackle Michael Roos and rookie running back Chris Johnson, as well as defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, heading to Hawaii for the second time and center Kevin Mawae, honored for the seventh time.

Finnegan, Haynesworth and Mawae were selected as starters, as the 12-2 Titans had the second-most Pro Bowl selections in the AFC behind the New York Jets, who had seven players honored.

“I was at a loss for words,” Hope said. “It's just a blessing to come where I came from the injury, a serious injury that I faced last year.”

Asked to elaborate on the injury and the doubts that might have crept into his mind after undergoing neck surgery to repair the injury, Hope reflected on the matter.

“The doubt came into my mind about how well I would play. It’s not a snap that doesn’t go by that you don’t use your neck in a contact sport like football. I never doubted that I would play again; it was just how effective and how physical and how competitive I would be.”

Hope bounced back in a big way with 84 total tackles, including 62 solo stops, as well as four interceptions this season. He joins perennial Pro Bowl safeties Ed Reed of Baltimore and Troy Polamalu, his old Pittsburgh teammate, whom he will face on Sunday when the Titans and Steelers battle for home-field advantage in the AFC.

“Troy always invited me to go with him [to Hawaii],” Hope said. “He always gave me the recognition of saying he would be able to do what he did if not for me. But I always said I wouldn’t go if I didn’t go for myself.”

Hope will have plenty of company in Hawaii with teammates, including Finnegan, whose improbable rise from seventh-round pick out of Samford in 2006 took on another twist with his election as a Pro Bowl starter.

Finnegan has developed into a ballhawk with five interceptions this season and a growing reputation as one of the NFL’s feistiest players.

Asked if his growing name as a fiery player might have helped him garner votes among players and coaches around the league to earn the berth, Finnegan said perhaps not.

“It probably didn’t,” Finnegan said. “Some guys probably didn’t want to vote for me, because they didn’t like me, which is totally OK. I love the game so much, I just want to show the passion that I have for the game and for those who came before me. But sometimes that can be sort of a hindrance to me.”

Finnegan said he will take a group of family members, friends and teammates with him to Hawaii for the Feb. 8 game.

“I’m taking about 30 people,” Finnegan said. “That money you get for winning or losing is all dedicated to those people. We’re gonna go have a good time, and we’re gonna sit back and relax and take in what God has done for me. It has been big.”

The Titans locked up Finnegan in a long-term deal before the season began and did the same for Roos, who is also heading to his first Pro Bowl.

His relative anonymity as an offensive lineman on a team that doesn’t garner a lot national attention notwithstanding, Roos was selected as one of three tackles in the AFC for his body of work, which includes allowing only one sack all season.

“I think us definitely winning helps [gain recognition]. If we were a team like the Cowboys or Philadelphia, maybe we would get a lot more [Pro Bowl players], but having this many wins and maybe me signing my contract might have gotten my name out there a little bit more.”

Of the three other Titans selected, Mawae anchors Tennessee’s offensive line and is a veteran of six previous Pro Bowls. This, however, is his first since joining the Titans as an unrestricted fee agent in 2006 from the Jets.

Johnson burst onto the scene this season as one of the top rookie running backs in the NFL. He has rushed for 1,159 yards and eight touchdowns this season and became only the third rookie in franchise history to reach 1,000 yards. He now joins Earl Campbell as the franchise’s only rookie running backs to earn a Pro Bowl spot.

As for Haynesworth, he is heading to Hawaii for the second straight season. But it is where he could be headed afterwards that is the issue for the Titans. The selection to the Pro Bowl triggered one of the incentives in his contract that can allow him to avoid the franchise tag from the Titans in 2009. Haynesworth likely had already reached the incentives necessary to become a free agent, but the Pro Bowl selection ensures it.

As it is, he will miss the remainder of the regular season with a sprained MCL in his left knee, but is expected to return for the Titans’ playoff game on the weekend of Jan. 10-11.

Other Titans who were expected to garner support for the Pro Bowl, but did not get chosen included kicker Rob Bironas, who has 120 points scored this season, linebacker Keith Bulluck, who has 103 tackles and right tackle David Stewart.