The National Football League today announced Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen and defensive end Joey Bosa were named 2021 Pro Bowlers. Bosa was designated as a starter for the AFC. The Chargers signed both players to multi-year extensions this offseason.
Allen continued his run of excellence, hauling in 100 passes for 992 yards and a career-high eight touchdowns this season. The Pro Bowl selection marks the fourth of his career — all coming in the last four seasons — tying for the most by a wide receiver in team history. Allen became the fourth player in NFL history to eclipse 95 receptions in four consecutive seasons, doing so in each of his all-star campaigns.
The eighth-year wide receiver set the all-time record with 624 receptions through the first 100 games of his career. Allen also tied for the fewest games (96) to reach 600 receptions in NFL history and posted his sixth career game with 13-plus catches, the most in league annals.
Bosa earns the third all-star honor of his career, entering Week 16 with his 27 quarterback hits and 15 tackles for loss each ranking No. 2 in the AFC despite missing two games due to injury. 2020 marks the third season of Bosa's five-year career with at least 15 tackles for loss. He has a team-best 7.5 sacks on the year and is just 2.5 shy of reaching 50 for his career.
The Ohio State product turned in the best performance of his career in Week 12, setting single-game career highs with nine tackles (eight solo), three sacks, six tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, a fumble recovery and a pass defensed. He became just the second player to post three sacks, five tackles for loss, five QB hits and recover a fumble since tackles for loss became a stat in 2008.
Roster selections are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group's vote counts one-third toward determining the 88 all-star players. The NFL is the only sports league that combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its all-star teams.
