With 23 fourth-quarter or OT comebacks on his resume, pulling wins out of thin air was something he and the Raiders did a lot during his tenure in Oakland.
Advertisement
Stabler was many things, most of which helped define the “bad boy quarterback” image, let alone that of a Raiders quarterback – neck-long hair with the scruffy beard and the rock-star, carefree-like attitude to go along with it. However there’s one thing that Stabler didn’t go down as: a Pro Football Hall of Famer. “It was old-school, simple football – just go play”. Always kind and always accommodating, Stabler never forgot his roots. “He wouldn’t be seen there”.
Quarterback Ken Stabler has died at 69 following complications from colon cancer. Stabler’s number 12 will most likely be added to every Raider player’s helmet or Jersey in 2015, and it can be a symbol of the tenacity and never quit attitude each Oakland Raider should strive for.
But Stabler was brilliant throughout, with one of the greatest postseason performances ever.
“I was head coach of the Raiders the entire time Kenny was there and he led us to a whole bunch of victories including one in Super Bowl XI”. In what became known as the Holy Roller, he fumbled the ball forward toward Casper, who recovered it in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown against the San Diego Chargers in 1978.
This was all before I was teenager, before the 49ers hired Bill Walsh and brought in Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott and the Dynasty revved up at Candlestick… All anyone remembers is Stabler’s “Sea of Hands” touchdown pass to Clarence Davis to win the game.
In 2011, he made what may have been his last two public appearances in Montgomery.In January, Stabler attended the Alabama Shakespeare Festival’s premier of “Bear Country”, a play about Coach Bryant.
“Don’t worry about that, John”. But it must nearly be noted that the Raiders won more games than any team during Stabler’s 9 year run with the team.
As tension built between Stabler and Davis, Madden retired after the 1979 season, citing health issues. A playoff game in Baltimore on Christmas Eve 1977 was into its second overtime when the Raiders offense called a timeout.
For me, and many in the Raider Nation, Stabler was the quintessential Raider in his behaviour both on and off the field. “And he’s just coolly looking up at the stands”.
When Stabler finally started to say something, Madden was pleased. He said, ‘Mark, I’m just getting in.’…
Madden howled in laughter as he finished the story. “Kenny loved life. It is a sad day for all Raiders”.
Indeed, big moments are what Stabler is synonymous with.
Namath, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985, threw for 27,663 yards in a 13-year career with 173 touchdowns and 220 interceptions with a 50.1 completion percentage. He is still the Raiders’ career passing leader with 19,078 yards.
If the Raiders hadn’t kept running into Pittsburgh, they probably would’ve had at least another Super Bowl title in Stabler’s tenure, and I think that would’ve tipped the Hall of Fame debate to his side.
Also misunderstood, Madden said, was Stabler’s wild side.
Stabler donated his brain and spinal cord to Boston University’s Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy Center to support research for degenerative brain disease in athletes, his family said.
“We had meetings before practice”.
“I’ve often said, If I had one drive to win a game to this day, and I had a quarterback to pick, I would pick Kenny.”
“When he’d drop back and his back foot would set, then he would stand straight up”.
Advertisement
“The hotter the game, the hotter I got”. “There are some guys who tend to make themselves smaller in the pocket”. No, I don’t mean he wasn’t a finalist.
