Four Raiders Selected to Return to Pro Bowl

Four Raiders are going back to the Pro Bowl, which means that four other Raiders, who went last year, are getting their streaks snapped.

Going, all for the third straight season, are defensive end Howie Long, the AFC’s leading vote-getter; cornerback Mike Haynes; halfback Marcus Allen and tight end Todd Christensen. Christensen will back up Ozzie Newsome of the Cleveland Browns.

Staying home from the Feb. 2 game at Honolulu will be cornerback Lester Hayes, after six straight appearances; linebacker Rod Martin and safety Vann McElroy after two in a row, and offensive tackle Henry Lawrence, who went last season.

The chief Raider protest, however, was raised on behalf of nose guard Bill Pickel, who is tied for third in the AFC with 12 1/2 sacks.

Long said: “He had 14 sacks last year at the nose position and this year he’ll end up with 14-15. That’s like 28 sacks in two years from the nose.

“I think if you speak to the people on our squad, you’ll find they think he deserved it. And it’s not like this squad is starved for attention. We’re not going to point the finger at somebody we don’t believe deserves it.

“Joe Klecko, I thought, should have been the first-team nose guard. Bob Golic (the alternate) is a quality football player but I think he got in because he’s so colorful. He says things like ‘Nose guards crawl out of the sewer.’ And Bill’s a quiet guy.

“I feel bad, too. A great amount of the limelight falls on me. Bill’s as steady a player as we’ve got on the line.”

And, speaking of limelight, here’s Hayes: “Of course I’m disappointed. That’s academic.

“I think in 1984, I snuck into the Pro Bowl by some method, but I had a semi-off season. I played the last eight games with a torn calf muscle. I couldn’t function perfectly. I couldn’t cover. I was scared. I was nervous. Still, I made the Pro Bowl. It was baffling.

“In 1985 I probably had, with the exception of the Kansas City game, the best season I’ve had since 1980, in which I procured 18 interceptions.”

Raider Notes Five Raiders finished as second alternates: Lester Hayes, Rod Martin, Bill Pickel, Vann McElroy and Ray Guy. Their embattled quarterback, Marc Wilson, finished fifth in the voting. . . . Howie Long: “I didn’t know if I’d make it. I had something all written out if I didn’t. I’m that way. I was going to say, ‘I didn’t make it, so I must not have deserved it.’ My stats (10 sacks) aren’t mind-boggling. I think it means times are changing. Before, if you didn’t have 15 sacks, you were out. They took the four guys with the high sacks.”