01/28 — Eight of the last 11 years, a Jets center has been selected to play in the Pro Bowl.

But for a short while Wednesday, it might have seemed as if Nick Mangold, stricken by a sudden illness, wasn't going to make it onto the sideline for Sunday's game at Miami's newly renamed Sun Life Stadium.

"I'm doing better now," Mangold told me today at the AFC team hotel not far from the Fort Lauderdale beach. "I'm excited to be here — and excited about feeling better. I was told by my O-linemates that unless I was dead, I had to be at the game. So I figured I might as well get better and show up."

The illness hit Mangold as he was arriving in South Florida and left quickly enough that he was spotted Wednesday afternoon at the makeshift locker room in the hotel. And No. 74 was out there on the field at St. Thomas Aquinas High School for this morning's AFC practice.

The neat thing about Mangold's comeback is that the Jets' line of center succession has been brought together at this year's Pro Bowl. Kevin Mawae, of course, was the Jets' six-time all-star center from 1999-2004. He left the Jets for Tennessee in '06, the same year Mangold was drafted late in the first round.

Both players made the 2008 AFC roster, with Mawae voted as the starter, but an injury forced him from the game and Mangold, in his first Pro Bowl appearance, became the starter. This year Mangold was voted the starter and Mawae an alternate. When Jeff Saturday and the Colts beat the Jets to reach the Super Bowl, Mawae moved onto the roster. And now Mangold is good to go.

I caught up with Kevin after today's practice and he said he's loving life as a Titan. "I'm still living the dream," he said. "I'm still trying to keep going."

He also had praise for the man who accepted the center's green mantle from him and is continuing the excellent play in the pivot on the Jets' line.

"We talked about it in the locker room, the Jets fans' appreciation of the position," Mawae said. "After Bill Parcells signed me and how well I played up there and the name I made for myself, it brought awareness to the center position for Jets fans, which is pretty cool because centers don't get recognized like that very often.

"Nick's a good kid, a good player. I've watched him on film — we've played the Jets three times. He's well-deserving of being here and he's going to be a good player for a long, long time."

Mangold is appreciative of his selection as well as that of Alan Faneca and D'Brickashaw Ferguson on this year's squad, but considering the kudos the Jets' line achieved this year, he'd have liked two more.

"I think it's a fantastic honor to have three of us here. I wish we could have all five because I know Meat [Brandon Moore] and Wood [Damien Woody] deserve it," he said. "But I think it's the guys in that room, they did a great job of playing for each other. I think it was a special year and I'm proud to be a part of it."

Pro Bowl Agenda

Jets multimedia men Rich Gentile and Chris Ubbens miked up Darrelle Revis for today's practice. And we got all four remaining Jets on video today at either the field or the hotel. That video should be available on newyorkjets.com Friday.

I'll also file reports on Alan Faneca and Shaun Ellis on Friday and we'll try to catch up with Flight Crew member Meredith on Saturday during a break in the NFL cheerleaders' final preparations for Sunday night's game.

Brick Helps Build in Broward

D'Brickashaw Ferguson was a part of the largest community program in NFL history this afternoon.

The Jets' left tackle was one of 27 Pro Bowl players to take part in the "NFL PLAY 60 Community Blitz" held at three South Florida sites today from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

During the Blitz, launched in partnership with NFL PLAYERS and league sponsor Bank of America, Pro Bowl players and more than 150 Bank of America employee volunteers are taking part in service projects in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The projects are designed to help local children stay healthy and active as part of NFL PLAY 60, the league’s campaign to fight childhood obesity. Bank of America also will donate $100,000 to PLAY 60 non-profit community partners as part of the program.

Brick is at the Broward County event, which took place at RISE Academy School of Science and Technology. Players will be joined by NFL Commissioner ROGER GOODELL and analysts from NFL Network and ESPN to build a playground. A news conference will take place at this site at 3 p.m.

A second group of players also are gathering at the NFL Youth Education Town in Miami-Dade County to host an NFL PLAY 60 Football Festival and healthy cooking demonstration. And the third group have joined Pro Bowl head coaches Norv Turner and Wade Phillips to volunteer in Palm Beach County in building an adaptive play space for physically challenged students at Boca Raton Community Middle School with Boundless Playgrounds.