Lester for the Hall of Fame

It is a cause in which I believe no matter how many 11+ loss seasons the Raiders manage to string together: Lester Hayes deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Last week, Lester was - once again - selected as one of the 25 semifinalists for the class of 2010.

This year, the marketing organizations for Van Heusen and JC Penney give us a way to express our frustration with Lester's snubbings over the years, allowing fans to vote through the fanschoice.com website. At this moment an impressive roster of Raiders - not all of whom are actually semifinalists (the voting started before the semifinalists were named) are all over the top of the rankings. Lester ranks #8, inexplicably behind Cris Crybaby Carter and mushmouth Shannon Sharpe, while Ray Guy sits third behind only Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. Tim Brown ranks fourth, Jim Plunkett fifth, Cliff Branch ninth, Tom Flores tenth, and Todd Christensen eleventh.

Fittingly, today's Oakland at Pittsburgh game is the "Throwback Game of the Week." Perhaps that refers to Frenchy Fuqua illegally throwing the ball back to Franco Harris in the Immaculate Reception game?

If we don't have our bitterness, we don't have anything. Vote for Lester! Remember to opt out of receiving spam from them, though.