Lechler to play in 3rd NFLPro Bowl

East Bernard graduate and Oakland Raider punter Shane Lechler kicks the ball during a Raider game earlier in the season. Lechler was named to play in NFLPro Bowl in Hawaii in February on Feb. 10.

OAKLAND - East Bernard graduate and Oakland Raider punter Shane Lechler was named to play in his third Pro Bowl.

Lechler averaged 49.1 yards per punt and led the NFLin gross punting average in 2007.

Lechler also claimed the NFLnet punt average title with an average of 41.1.

The game will be played Feb. 10 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He boomed 73 punts for 3,585 yards in 16 games in 2007.

The eight-year veteran had a 70-yard punt against Tennessee on October 28, which is his longest kick in 2007.

"I am extremely excited about it and the punt team has been outstanding," said Lechler in a Raiders news release.

"They are a fun group to play with and they worked really hard to cover a lot of kicks.

"The guys (on the punt coverage team) really played well.

"My name is tagged on it (the Pro Bowl) but the punt team deserves a lot of the credit too. I'm happy to represent the Raiders and it should be a lot of fun."

Lechler has 592 career punts for 27,511 yards and has had only three punts blocked in eight seasons.

Lechler was originally a fifth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M University by the Raiders in 2000.

Lechler's 46.5-yard punting average is the highest in NFLhistory for players with at least 250 attempts.

Lechler reached the qualifier of 250 punts during a Nov. 23, 2003 contest at Kansas City, when he surpassed Pro Football Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh (45.1), another native Texan.

Lechler led the AFC and finished second in the NFLin gross punting average (47.5) in 2006.

He finished 2005 tied for the NFLlead in punting average at 45.7 yards per attempt. In 2005, he led the NFLfor the third straight year.

Lechler has recorded at least one punt of 50 yards or longer in 14 of 16 games in 2007.

He set a record with 33 straight games with a punt of 50 or more yards, the longest streak since the NFL/AFLmerger in 1970.

The streak, which lasted from Nov. 30, 2003 against Denver until Dec. 11, 2005 at the N.Y. Jets, surpassed Rick Tuten's mark of 30 straight games from 1993-95 with Seattle.

During the record-setting streak, he topped 50 yards 65 times with 12 punts of over 60.