Pontbriand Earns Second Straight Pro Bowl Assignment
1/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 28, 2009
Former Rice Owl and current Cleveland Browns long snapper Ryan Pontbriand has been named to the 2009 AFC Pro Bowl roster as the AFC's need player, the club announced Wednesday.
This is the second consecutive Pro Bowl for Pontbriand as the AFC's need player. He was a four year letterman for the Owls from 1999-2002.
Pontbriand was originally a fifth-round draft choice in the 2003 NFL Draft out of Rice and has been a steady contributor throughout his career. In 2008, he was a key member of the special teams unit that helped K Phil Dawson achieve a pair of milestones during the 2008 season. With a 27-yard field goal against Philadelphia on December 15, Dawson pushed his season total to 30 successful kicks, surpassing Matt Stover's previous franchise mark of 29 set in 1995.
"I'm honored to be selected for the AFC Pro Bowl roster for the second year in a row," Pontbriand said. "This is the ultimate recognition of performance during the season for a position that receives so few accolades. I'm extremely excited to spend some time in Hawaii with my teammates, my wife Nicole, and my brand new daughter, Avery."