IRVING, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys safety Roy Williams is going to the Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, and he will have plenty of teammates to hang out with in Hawaii.
The addition of Williams to the NFC roster Thursday gave the Cowboys a league-record 12 Pro Bowl selections.
Williams took the roster spot of the late Sean Taylor, the Washington strong safety voted in as a starter.
"I appreciate being the first alternate to go," Williams said. "We are going to do something special for Sean and his family. ... It's an honor to be going in his place."
Williams wouldn't elaborate on the plans to honor Taylor, who died Nov. 27 after being shot during a burglary at his home in Florida.
The NFL also said Cowboys free safety Ken Hamlin, a first-time Pro Bowler, will replace Taylor in the starting lineup for the NFC. Hamlin is the eighth Dallas player set to start in the Pro Bowl.
Williams received the fourth-most votes for safeties behind Taylor, Minnesota's Darren Sharper and Hamlin. Sharper was voted in as the starting strong safety.
"Making it was definitely an honor. Roy is definitely deserving, he's done a great job, as well. He's been there a lot more than me, so I'll definitely follow him," Hamlin said. "Making it means a lot to me. ... And to be a starter in that type of game is definitely a big honor."
When the Pro Bowl teams were chosen last month, Dallas tied a franchise record with 11 selections. That included seven starters: receiver Terrell Owens, tight end Jason Witten, offensive linemen Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode and Leonard Davis, linebacker DeMarcus Ware and rookie kicker Nick Folk.
The other Pro Bowlers from Dallas (13-3), the NFC's top-seeded playoff team, are quarterback Tony Romo, running back Marion Barber and cornerback Terence Newman.
"That's 12 guys in, so that's exciting for us," coach Wade Phillips said Thursday.
Williams has 92 tackles and two interceptions in 15 games. He missed the Carolina game last month while serving a one-game suspension for another violation of the horse-collar rule that is tabbed by some "The Roy Williams Rule" because of his use of the tackle.
The NFL fined Williams once last year and twice earlier this year before sending him a letter warning that he might have to miss a game if he did it again. Then he got penalized for tackling Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb from behind on Dec. 16.
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