The 12th time was a charm for Sebastian Janikowski.
The Raiders' kicker was named to his first Pro Bowl on Tuesday, joining punter Shane Lechler and defensive tackle Richard Seymour. The selection served as belated validation for Al Davis' decision to draft a kicker 17th overall in 2000.
Janikowski leads the Raiders with 115 points and has converted 27 of 31 field-goal attempts.
Players were selected in balloting by fans, coaches and and players, with each counting one-third. Janikowski and Lechler won the fan portion of the balloting.
"The guy is the best kicker in football, hands down," Raiders coach Hue Jackson said during his news conference Monday. "I'd be very disappointed if his name doesn't show up. He's as good as there is in football. Period."
Janikowski is coming off a 3-for-4 performance Saturday against Kansas City, delivering the game winner from 36 yards in overtime with the lone miss hitting the crossbar from 59 yards.
Janikowski also has missed from 56 yards and had attempts of 49 and 65 yards blocked this season.
In the season opener, Janikowski tied an NFL record held by New Orleans' Tom Dempsey (1970) and Denver's Jason Elam (1998) with a 63-yard field goal in a 23-20 win over Denver.
The Chiefs game marked the fourth time this season Janikowski has kicked three or more field goals, with the Raiders winning all four.
The day after learning of the death of Davis, who drew criticism for making a kicker a first-round pick, Janikowski was 4 for 4 in a 25-20 win over Houston with field goals of 54, 55, 50 and 42 yards.
He also set a club record by going 6 for 6 in a 25-20 victory over Chicago, and he's having one of his best seasons in terms of accuracy despite nursing a strained hamstring for part of the season. Janikowski missed a 28-0 loss to Kansas City on Oct. 31 because of the injury.
Janikowski has led the Raiders in scoring in each of his 11 seasons and is the all-time scoring leader in franchise history with 1,247 points.
Lechler, a fifth-round pick out of Texas A&M the same season Janikowski went in Round 1, was named to his seventh Pro Bowl and fifth in succession. He leads the NFL in gross punting with a 50.5-yard average and is sixth in net punting at 40.9 partly because of two returns for touchdowns.
Of Lechler's 77 punts, 27 have been downed inside the 20-yard line with only eight touchbacks. He had a career-long 80-yard punt against Chicago this season and had a 76-yarder last week against Kansas City. His career average of 47.6 yards is the highest in NFL history.
Seymour, named to his seventh Pro Bowl, has played through a knee injury this season and hasn't performed up to his usual standards in recent weeks.
Saturday against the Chiefs, however, Seymour blocked two field-goal attempts, including a 49-yarder by Ryan Succop at the end of regulation, that helped keep the Raiders alive in the AFC West and wild-card races. He has six sacks this season.
The Raiders announced that strong safety Tyvon Branch, defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, fullback Marcel Reece and running back Darren McFadden (out since Oct. 23 because of a foot injury) were named alternates who could be asked to play in the Pro Bowl in the event of injury.
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