Six Patriots were named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster on Tuesday night, as quarterback Tom Brady, offensive lineman Logan Mankins and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork were named starters, while inside linebacker Jerod Mayo, rookie cornerback Devin McCourty and safety Brandon Meriweather got the nod as backups.

The six is tied for fourth most in franchise history. It is the sixth Pro Bowl selection for Brady (2001, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010), third for Mankins (2007, 2009 and 2010), third for Wilfork (2007, 2009 and 2010) and second for Meriweather (2009 and 2010). Meanwhile, Mayo and McCourty were named for the first time in their careers.

Mayo, in his third season, earned his first Pro Bowl berth after heading into the final game of the season with an NFL-leading 186 total tackles, including two 19-tackle games: vs. Baltimore (Oct. 17) and vs. Green Bay (Dec. 19). His 186 total tackles are tied with linebacker Steve Nelson (1980) for the third-best in team history. The defensive co-captain has ten 10-tackle games so far in 2010 and has three straight 100-tackle seasons.

“Jerod’s played very well for us. He’s done a very nice job as a captain, providing a lot of plays on the field and a lot of leadership and preparation off the field,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said of Mayo on Tuesday afternoon. “He’s certainly done a good job for us, and he’s had a real good season.”

As for McCourty, he continues a stellar rookie season with his first Pro Bowl nod. He is the fourth Patriots player to be selected to the Pro Bowl as a rookie, joining Mike Haynes (1976), John Stephens (1988) and Curtis Martin (1995). McCourty, a first-round pick out of Rutgers, has started all 15 games, and he heads into the final week of the season tied for second in the NFL with six interceptions. In addition, he’s third on the team with 81 total tackles.

“Thanks for the love....appreciate all the support,” tweeted McCourty soon after the news was announced. “[I’m] geeked up I got selected to my first ever Pro Bowl. Thanks to everyone who voted for me.”

“You wouldn’t know he’s a rookie; he acts and prepares like he’s been doing it for five or six years,” Belichick said recently of McCourty. “He’s very attentive. He understands a lot of little things.”

As for the returnees, Mankins and Wilfork each received their third nod. Both have undergone occasionally contentious contractual situations with the Patriots over the course of the last season, but both have returned to post outstanding seasons. 

“Thanks so much for the Pro Bowl selection,” tweeted Wilfork. “I am again humbled by the experience and appreciate the acknowledgment thanks fans peers and media.”

“I think this guy has been working his butt off from the first day he stepped in here,” New England defensive line coach Pepper Johnson said of Wilfork earlier in the day on Tuesday. “Every year, it never ceases to amaze me that he takes his game up to another level. This year he really got broad with his shoulders. He has taken a lot of players with him as far as helping guys and helping me in that classroom. He’s doing a lot of different things that we ask him to do and he should be rewarded for it.”

Mankins missed the first seven games of the season after a contract dispute, but reported to the team on Nov. 2 and has been a fixture along the offensive line ever since. He went to his first Pro Bowl in 2007 when he became the first Patriots guard to earn a Pro Bowl selection since 1985 when Pro Football Hall of Famer John Hannah went to his ninth career Pro Bowl. The Fresno State product is in his sixth season with the Patriots since being selected in the first round of the 2005 Draft. He started 8 games this season and has never missed an NFL game, starting all 88 games of his career.

“He’s been phenomenal — he sets the tone for everybody,” Brady recently told WEEI. “Logan is a different kind of guy. Logan is all business. He wants to go out there and he wants to maul people. It’s just his personality. He’s been like that since the first day he got here.

“Exactly what you see on the sideline is the kind of guy Logan is. He’s all about the team. He’s all about the team’s success. He’s a man of his word. He’s a hell of a teammate. He’s got obviously all the physical skills that you’re looking for. And his attitude and what he brings to the toughness of our group, is someone that’s really irreplaceable. That’s someone that is a huge asset to this offense.”

Brady’s inclusion, like Wilfork and Mayo, is hardly a surprise. The quarterback is having one of the finest seasons of his brilliant career, entering the final week of the season with 3,701 yards passing and an NFL-leading 34 touchdowns. Last week at Buffalo, he extended his streak to 319 consecutive pass attempts without an interception to set an NFL record. He also set an NFL record with at least two touchdowns and no interceptions in eight straight games.

“There is no quarterback I’d rather have than Tom Brady,” Belichick said earluer this season. “I think our goals are the same, and I think generally speaking, we have a similar way of achieving those goals. I think that works well together. I certainly enjoy that, my association with Tom. Those things he brings, I believe in. I think he believes in some of the things I believe in, so that helps.”

Meriweather’s inclusion on the Pro Bowl roster continues an eventful year for the young safety out of Miami. He was benched by the Patriots earlier in the season, and admitted to WEEI he wasn’t always listening to instructions from the coaching staff. “I was trying a lot of things in camp just to see if they worked. And they weren’t,” he acknowledged. “Instead of me stopping trying them and doing exactly what I was coached, I kept trying them.” Later in the season, Meriweather drew the ire of the league for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Baltimore’s Todd Heap, a shot that cost him $50,000.

But in the end, Meriweather gets his second Pro Bowl nod. He heads into the final week of the season with 66 total tackles and three interceptions, and he leads all current Patriots with 12 career interceptions. Meriweather intercepted a Peyton Manning pass on Indianapolis’ first drive and returned it 39 yards to get the Patriots in scoring position in a 31-29 victory on Nov. 21.