Ken Stabler

Ken Stabler

Stabler at the Alabama Broadcasters Association Convention in 2007
No. 12, 16
Position:	Quarterback
Personal information
Date of birth:	(1945-12-25)December 25, 1945
Place of birth:	Foley, Alabama
Date of death:
Place of death:	Gulfport, Mississippi
Height:
Weight:
Career information
High school:	Foley (AL)
College:	Alabama
NFL draft:	1968 / Round: 2 / Pick: 52
Career history
Spokane Shockers (1968–1969) Oakland Raiders (1970–1979) Houston Oilers (1980–1981) New Orleans Saints (1982–1984)
Career highlights and awards
Super Bowl champion (XI) 4× Pro Bowl (1973, 1974, 1976, 1977) 2× AP First-Team All-AFC (1973, 1974) AP First-Team All-Pro (1974) AP Second-Team All-Pro (1976) 1974 NFL MVP (AP, NEA, MX) AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1974) NFL 1970s All-Decade Team Led NFL in TD passes in 1974 and 1976
Career NFL statistics
TD–INT: 194–222 Passing yards: 27,938 QB Rating: 75.3 Player stats at NFL.com

Kenneth Michael "Ken" Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015), nicknamed "The Snake," was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Oakland Raiders (1970–1979), Houston Oilers (1980–1981) and New Orleans Saints (1982–1984). He played college football for the University of Alabama.

On August 19, 2015, the media announced that Stabler had been selected as a finalist for membership of the Pro Football Hall of Fame by its Senior Committee, along with Dick Stanfel. They will be considered by the Selection Committee on February 6, 2016.

Biography

High school career

Stabler became a highly touted football player at Foley High School in Foley, Alabama. He led Foley to a win-loss record of 29–1 over his high school career—the only loss coming against Vigor High School. He was an all-around athlete in high school, averaging 29 points a game in basketball and excelling enough as a left-handed pitcher in baseball to receive minor-league contract offers from the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. He was an all-American athlete. During his high school career, he earned his nickname "the Snake" from his coach following a long, winding touchdown run.

College career

Stabler was recruited by legendary head coach Bear Bryant at Alabama, joining the team in 1964. Due to National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play; therefore, Stabler would sit out during the 1964 season. In that season, the Crimson Tide won the National Championship with quarterback Joe Namath.

In the 1965 season, Stabler was used sparingly as a back-up to Steve Sloan at quarterback, following Namath's departure to the AFL. That year, the Crimson Tide won their second consecutive National Championship, finishing the season with a record of 9–1–1. The team defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, 39–28.

As a junior in 1966, he took over the quarterback position full-time. He led the team to an undefeated, 11–0 season which ended in a 34–7 rout of Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. Despite the unblemished record, the Tide was snubbed by the polls, finishing in third behind Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Expectations were high in Stabler's senior season, though those expectations would not be completely fulfilled. The offense often struggled, and the defense's performance slipped. During the season, Bryant kicked Stabler off the team for cutting class and partying, though he was given a second chance. The Tide finished with an 8–2–1 record, including a loss to rival Tennessee. Though the season was lackluster, Stabler would provide a memorable moment in the Iron Bowl. Trailing 3–0 in a game drenched by rain, Stabler scampered through the mud for a 53-yard, game-winning touchdown which gave the Tide a 7–3 victory over rival Auburn at Legion Field. The play is commonly referred to as the "Run in the Mud" in Alabama football lore.

Stabler finished his career at Alabama with a 28–3–2 record as a starter.

Career statistics

NCAA Collegiate Career Stats
Alabama Crimson Tide
Season	Passing							Rushing
	Comp	Att	Yards	Pct.	TD	Int	QB Rating	Att	Yards	Avg	TD
1965	3	11	26	27.3	0	0	47.1	61	328	5.4	1
1966	74	114	956	64.9	9	5	152.6	93	397	4.3	3
1967	103	178	1,214	57.9	9	13	117.2	111	113	1.0	5
NCAA Career Totals	180	303	2,196	59.4	18	18	128.0	265	838	3.2	9

NFL Career Statistics
Oakland Raiders
Season	Passing
	G	Comp	Att	Yards	YDS/G	Pct.	TD	Long	Int	QB Rating
1970	3	3	7	52	17.3	42.8	0	33	1	18.5
1971	14	24	48	268	19.1	50.0	1	23	4	39.2
1972	14	44	74	524	37.4	59.5	4	22	3	82.3
1973	14	163	260	1,997	142.6	62.7	14	80	10	82.3
1974	14	178	310	2,469	176.4	57.4	26	67	12	88.3
1975	14	171	293	2,296	164.0	58.4	16	53	24	67.3
1976	12	194	291	2,737	228.1	66.7	27	88t	17	103.4
1977	12	169	294	2,176	167.4	57.5	20	44t	20	75.2
1978	16	237	406	2,944	184.0	58.4	16	49	30	63.4
1979	16	304	498	3,615	225.9	61.1	26	66t	22	82.2
Houston Oilers
1980	16	293	457	3,202	200.1	64.1	13	79t	28	68.7
1981	13	165	285	1,988	152.9	57.9	14	71t	18	69.5
New Orleans Saints
1982	8	117	189	1,343	167.9	61.9	6	48	10	71.8
1983	8	176	311	1,988	142.0	56.6	9	48	18	61.4
1984	3	33	70	339	113.0	47.1	2	29	5	41.3
NFL Career Totals	184	2,270	3,793	27,938	151.8	59.8	194	88	222	75.3

NFL career

Stabler was drafted in the second round of the 1968 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. He did not get a chance to play until 1970, and during 1968 and 1969 spent time playing with the Spokane Shockers in the Continental Football League. Stabler first attracted attention in the NFL in a 1972 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After entering the game in relief of Daryle Lamonica, he scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard scramble. The Steelers, however, came back to win on a controversial, deflected pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, known in football lore as the Immaculate Reception.

After suffering severe knee injuries, Stabler became less a scrambling quarterback and more a classic, drop-back passer, known for accurate passes and an uncanny ability to lead late, come-from-behind drives. During the peak of his career, he had a receiving corps consisting of sprinter and multiple Hall of Fame finalist Cliff Branch, Hall of Fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, and Hall of Fame tight end Dave Casper. The Raiders' philosophy was to pound teams with their running game (aided by multiple-time Pro Bowler Marv Hubbard at fullback), then stretch them with their long passing game. Although Stabler lacked remarkable arm strength, he was a master of the long pass to Branch, and accurate on intermediate routes to Biletnikoff and Casper. As a starter in Oakland, Stabler was named AFC player of the year in 1974 and 1976, and was the NFL's passing champion in 1976. In January 1977 he guided the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory, a 32–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings. In the 1977 AFC playoffs against the Baltimore Colts, Stabler completed a legendary fourth-quarter pass to Casper to set up a game-tying field goal by Errol Mann. This play, dubbed the "Ghost to the Post," sent the game to overtime; the Raiders won 37–31 after Stabler threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Casper.

After subpar 1978 and 1979 seasons in which the Raiders failed to make the playoffs- primarily due to the retirement and departures of key contributors during the Super Bowl run in 1976 (most notably head coach John Madden, George Atkinson, Clarence Davis, Marv Hubbard and Fred Biletnikoff). Stabler was traded to the Oilers for Dan Pastorini prior to the 1980 season, after a lengthy contract holdout. Stabler left the Raiders as their all-time leader in completions (1,486), passing yards (19,078), and touchdown passes (150). The Oilers, in turn, saw Stabler as the missing ingredient that could finally get them past the rival Steelers and into the Super Bowl. However Houston lacked the exceptional talent on offense that Stabler had thrived with in Oakland, as Earl Campbell and Casper- who was also acquired in a trade from the Raiders- were the few potent weapons they had. Meanwhile, Pastorini lost the starting job in Oakland to Jim Plunkett after an injury, and Plunkett then led the Raiders over Stabler and the Oilers in the playoffs. Bum Phillips was fired shortly after the season. Without the popular head coach that rejuvenated an otherwise woeful Houston franchise, Stabler had a mediocre season in 1981 but re-joined Bum Phillips by signing with the Saints in 1982. By this time, however, the 37-year-old Stabler was no longer in his prime and the Saints were still a fairly dismal franchise. The 1983 season was Stabler's best as a Saint. He started 14 games, and while the team's record in those games was only 7–7, Stabler was the starter for the final game of the season, in New Orleans, against the division rival Los Angeles Rams. Had the Saints won that game, they would have finished 9–7 and reached their first trip to the playoffs. But the Rams pulled out the victory late in the 4th quarter, 26–24. The Saints then acquired veteran Richard Todd before the 1984 season and Stabler retired in the middle of that season.

Stabler was the fastest to win 100 games as a starting quarterback, having done so in 150 games, which bettered Johnny Unitas' previous mark of 153 games. Since then, only Terry Bradshaw in 147 games, Joe Montana in 139 games and Tom Brady in 131 games have reached 100 wins more quickly. Stabler is also the only quarterback from the NFL's All-1970's team not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a recent NFL feature listing the top 10 players not in the Hall of Fame, Stabler was listed at number six, partly due to his off-field scandals, which in the 1970s were less prominent, or it could be that he never replicated the success he achieved in Oakland.

In the early part of 1974, Stabler and several NFL stars agreed to join the newly created World Football League. Stabler signed a contract to play for the Birmingham Americans. "I'm as happy as can be. Getting with a super organization and the financial benefits were key factors, but the biggest thing to me is getting back home. Getting to play before the people in the South is where it's at for me. In two years I'll be in Birmingham if I have to hitchhike," he said. "If I can do for the WFL what Joe Namath did for the AFL, I will feel that I have really accomplished something. I was born in the South and raised in the South and played football in the South. Oakland could have offered me as much money as Birmingham but they couldn't have let me play in the South." The WFL would end up folding mid-way through the 1975 season, and Stabler remained in the NFL without ever playing in the WFL.

For his successes in the NFL, Stabler was named the twenty-seventh greatest quarterback of the post-merger era by Football Nation.

Broadcasting career

Following his retirement as a player, Stabler worked as a color commentator, first on CBS NFL telecasts, and then on radio with Eli Gold for Alabama football games. Stabler left before Alabama's 2008 season and was replaced by Phil Savage.

Charitable work

Stabler served as chairman of the XOXO Stabler Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission "to raise funds, build awareness and hope for a variety of charitable causes." Stabler's celebrity golf tournaments in Point Clear, Alabama have raised nearly $600,000 for charitable partner The Ronald McDonald House of Mobile, which serves families of seriously ill and injured children receiving medical treatment at local hospitals.

Popular culture

• Stabler was featured on a SNL skit as the spokesman for a fictional product called the "Lung Brush".
• Professional wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts adopted his nickname "The Snake" as a tribute to Stabler.
• While playing for the Oilers, Stabler had his own soft drink, known as Snake Venom, sold in the city. In his autobiography, Stabler stated that the drink "tasted about like its name."
• He made a cameo appearance on Married...With Children ("The Bud Bowl Episode").
• In September 2006, Stabler partnered with children's book publisher Mascot Books to release his first kid's book, Roll Tide!.
• Stabler was the grand marshal for the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
• Stabler also appears in the book Gump and Co. as the New Orleans Saints quarterback.
• Stabler is featured on the "NFL Legends" team in the video game NFL Street.

Personal

Stabler was married three times: Isabel Clarke from 1968 to 1973, Debbie Fitzsimmons from 1975 to 1978, and Rose Molly Burch from 1984 to 2002

Stabler had three daughters, Kendra Stabler Moyes (from first marriage), Alexa Rose Stabler and Marissa Leigh Stabler (from third marriage). He had twin grandsons, Jack Moyes and Justin Moyes, who he referred to as his "Grand Snakes."

Stabler had one sibling, Carolyn Bishop, who with husband Myles has one son, Scott Bishop. All reside in Alabama.

Renowned for being cool and cerebral on the field, Stabler was equally legendary for his off-field exploits, and his partying ways made him a perfect fit for the 1970s Raiders. As he wrote in his autobiography Snake, “The monotony of [training] camp was so oppressive that without the diversions of whiskey and women, those of us who were wired for activity and no more than six hours sleep a night might have gone berserk.”

Death

Stabler died of colon cancer on July 8, 2015, at the age of 69. He had been diagnosed with the disease since February 2015. After some initial confusion when The Tuscaloosa News leaked a draft obituary for Stabler before word of his death could be confirmed, his family confirmed his death in a statement issued on July 9.

See also

• Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
• Mobile Sports Hall of Fame

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference
• Ken Stabler Facebook
• KenStabler.com
• XOXO Stabler Foundation
• Ken Stabler Online Memorial