At 2:12 p.m., the first e-mailed response arrived. It was from Michael in Redondo Beach. The subject line read, quot;Thanks for the memories.quot;

quot;I'm a lifelong Raider fan,quot; he wrote. quot;I'm officially resigning today.quot;

So began an avalanche of e-mails and blog comments from fans blown away by their team's first-round draft pick.

Then, something funny happened. The more the draft experts bashed Raiders owner Al Davis, and by extension his adoring fans, the more the Raider Nation began to rally around Davis, and by extension his new wide receiver.

Think of it as them circling the global wagons, from Nova Scotia to Canada, Miami to Virginia, Denver to Seattle and back to Oakland.

quot;Davis is an icon,quot; Larry Farrauto from Ontario, Canada, wrote. quot;When they run an organization with the winningest percentage in pro sports while winning three championships, then they can criticize.quot;

After musing through 100-plus e-mails and another 200-plus blog comments, a common theme emerged over the weekend.

It always started with everybody stunned the Raiders picked quot;DHB.quot; It took hours for a positive note to emerge.

quot;Jloftyquot; in Verdi, Nev., thought they should have traded back to get him. Than Nguyen in Seattle wanted a lineman. Many were sure wide receiver Michael Crabtree was the answer.

Heyward-Who?

quot;To be honest, I don't think it has quite hit me yet that Al Davis picked DHB at seventh overall,quot; Louis in Oakland wrote. quot;When it does, I'm sure I'll be pissed.quot;

Cristobal Mu?oz in Fontana was more shell-shocked, writing, quot;Someone, please make the pain go away.quot;

He saw Heyward-Bey's 4.3 40-time and decided, quot;The ghost of James Jett lives on.quot; That is in reference to the former Raiders sprinter from the '1990s who was more run than catch.

Ed Jackson of Bozeman, Mont., is reminded of the time the Raiders took super-fast Jessie Hester instead of rather-slow Jerry Rice. Indeed, more fans than ever sound fed up with Davis' stopwatch infatuation.

quot;If the key to being a great receiver was world-class speed, then James Jett and Willie Gault would be the best of all time,quot; wrote Ben Herman of Alexandria, Va. quot;Oh well. At least DHB will be wide open when he drops his passes.quot;

Some are thinking of canceling their season tickets, like Mike Taylor - a.k.a. quot;phreakshowquot; in the blogosphere. Reggie Mudaliar in Dublin said he quot;will not support the Raiders financiallyquot; any longer.

Mind you, these are hardcore fans, not some Gannon-era newbies or Niner lovers. The DHB pick has stoked that intense of a response.

quot;Errors in judgment like this are why we pick in the single digits all the time!quot; Erin Morton in San Diego wrote.

In the end, they may all come back to the fold. Many already have gotten over it, thanks to reassurances from head coach Tom Cable that this is the guy who will make JaMarcus Russell great.

quot;Pay no attention to the media criticism,quot; J. Frank Wiley of Albany, N.Y., wrote.

After all, if fans can stick through 72 losses in six seasons, they'll probably survive this, too.

quot;At first, I was perplexed/stunned/angry/upset/disappointed,quot; David Rafiee wrote. quot;But as a fan, I had to find the Silver and Black lining.quot;

BRIEFLY: The Raiders signed three more undrafted free agents - Florida Atlantic middle linebacker Frantz Joseph, Brigham Young outside linebacker David Nixon and Kent State receiver Shawn Bayes. ... Heyward-Bey will appear on the quot;Chronicle Livequot; show today at 5 p.m. tape at 11 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.