The Truth About Raiders Returner Johnnie Lee Higgins

Okay.  I must say, I'm not the type who invests emotions into conspiracy theories.  I've certainly written wild theories as an intellectual exercise to see a topic from as many views as possible.  In some cases, it led to perceptions that could reflect the truth in reality.

I'm the type, like an actor, who does not label others as irrational, but asks: Why does that person think they are rational?

Subsequently, I scratch my head every time I ask: Why was Raider returner Johnnie Lee Higgins snubbed for the ProBowl and All-Pro selections? 

Well, I can understand the ProBowl, only because I know that Jet fans were all voting for Leon Washington because of what he did in 2007.

But for the writers to ignore the emergence of Higgins, to me, was atrocious.  The evidence is clear, and indicates that it was the result of either a) idiocy, b) laziness, or c) gross bias.  You tell me.  And no, "none of the above" is not an answer.

With 3 touchdowns on punt-returns to lead the league and an average of 13.0, and 23.5 on kick returns -- Higgins was easily the best returner in the NFL for 2008

Every year, writers complain about how fans got the ProBowl wrong.  Guess what though, the writers are no better.

You might say that, people have yet to know the name Johnnie Lee Higgins.  The problem with that was, name-recognition did not prevent the writers from honoring the former returner for the Houston Texans, Jerome Mathis, in his rookie year of 2005.

The writers though did miss Washington in 2007, only to honor him in 2008 for a ho-hum season.  However, Washington would have been in 2007, if not for Devin Hester's dominance and the fact that Cleveland's Josh Cribbs had the same number of TDs on returns and better averages.  In other words, Washington was not, indisputably, the best returner in 2007 nor in 2008.

In 2008 however, Johnnie Lee Higgins was indisputably the best returner.

Thus, the question to all you voting writers out there: Do you plan to honor Johnnie Lee Higgins in 2009 for what he did in 2008, like you did for Leon Washington?  Or will you continue spinning propaganda about the Raiders? 

Something like this really makes me wonder about the integrity and competence of the writers.  Either a) they refuse to recognize the Raiders for doing something right, b) they underrate the importance of special teams, and so they don't put much effort behind what they do, or c) they don't deserve their job because a blogger knows more than them.

Or d) all of the above.