Walt Harris finally is getting some of the respect and recognition he deserves after his standout 2006 season with the 49ers.

After leading the NFC with a career-high eight interceptions, Harris was voted onto the All-NFC team as selected by the Pro Football Writers of America and Pro Football Weekly.

It's the first time Harris has garnered such widespread recognition since he was selected to various all-rookie teams in 1996, when he started 13 games for the Chicago Bears.

Harris and Lito Sheppard of the Philadelphia Eagles were named as the All-NFC cornerbacks. Sheppard also was one of three cornerbacks named to the NFC squad for the Pro Bowl, but Harris - named as the NFC's first alternate - may get the opportunity to appear in the Pro Bowl for the first time in place of Sheppard, who dislocated his elbow in Philadelphia's wild-card playoff victory over the New York Giants.

Sheppard missed last Saturday's divisional playoff against the Saints, and the injury likely will keep him out of the Pro Bowl, giving Harris a well-deserved opportunity to play in the league's annual all-star game.

Neither of the two cornerbacks named to start for the NFC in the Pro Bowl - Tampa Bay's Ronde Barber and Atlanta's DeAngelo Hall - was selected to the All-NFC team by the football writers.

Joining Harris on the All-NFC team from the 49ers was running back Frank Gore, the NFC rushing champion who also will start for the NFC in the Pro Bowl on Feb. 10 in Hawaii.

Harris was a free-agent steal for the 49ers, who signed him five days after the Washington Redskins released him. Harris repaid the 49ers with the best season of his 11-year career, leading the team in interceptions, passes defensed (17), forced fumbles (5) and fumble recoveries (2).

"Personally, individually, I can say I achieved some goals I really wanted to achieve this year," Harris said. "I wanted to have a great overall season from start to finish. I didn't want to have any lapses going in ups an downs. Consistent is always the key with me, and I definitely wanted to finish well."

Harris certainly did that, earning NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors after he had two interceptions and a fumble recovery Dec. 31 in San Francisco's season-ending upset victory over Denver.

Harris also was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November - the first time in his career he'd ever received either a weekly or monthly honor from the league.

But it certainly wouldn't be the last.

A berth on the All-NFC team wasn't the only honor bestowed upon Gore by the PFWA in conjunction with Pro Football Weekly.

The second-year running back also was selected as the NFL's Most Improved Player by the organization. That award no doubt was a reflection of Gore's emergence as one of the league's elite rushers.

But Gore also was pretty good as a rookie last year. Despite starting just one game and being limited by torn labrums in each of his shoulders, Gore still became the first rookie in 15 years to lead the 49ers in rushing with 608 yards in 2005, when he averaged a healthy 4.8 yards a carry.

But, yes, you could say he improved as a NFL sophomore. Gore rushed for a team-record 1,695 yards in 2006 while averaging 5.4 yards a carry, the best average of the 23 NFL running backs to rush for 990 yards or more this past season.