Longtime Raiders quarterback Stabler dead at 69

“A legend not only now after his passing but in his own time”.

After his 10 seasons with the Raiders, Stabler played for the Houston Oilers for two seasons and the New Orleans Saints for his final three seasons.

Stabler died Wednesday of colon cancer. “I have to admit that I gave them more aggravation off the field than they deserved”.

FOX6’s Mike Dubberly sat down with Stabler in 1999 to talk about his return to Alabama as part of the Tide’s sports network. Stabler had to earn the starting job from fifth string in the fall, but he did. “We won 34-7 against a really good Nebraska team”.

“Go stand on your head”, was Davis’ answer every time.

His coach in Oakland, John Madden, said Thursday that Stabler was a “perfect quarterback, and a perfect raider”…

But not only is Stabler not in the Hall, the committee has simply given up even trying. Speaking of the Steelers, if not for Franco Harris catching “The Immaculate Reception” (a.k.a. “The Immaculate Deception”), Stabler would have led the Raiders to one of the greatest comebacks in National Football League history in 1972 after filling in for a struggling Daryle Lamonica. In the 1980 playoffs, they lost to the Raiders, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

The experts were saying the Raiders would be back again and again in the coming years. His brain and spinal cord were donated to Boston University for research, but the organs he most heavily relied on during his time as one of the best players of his generation were his heart and his guts.

Griese was enshrined in 1990, the winner of two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins.

The Broncos prevailed and went to the Super Bowl, with great respect for the fallen quarterback.

Stabler trails Hall-of-Famer Terry Bradshaw’s career passing yardage by just 61 yards (27,989) and has also thrown for more yards than Bob Griese (25,092). “And, I guess we couldn’t”. I’m going all over the board over what we should do. Yes, Stabler was surrounded by great teammates such as Gene Upshaw, Art Shell and Fred Biletnikoff, among others.

Known as “The Snake“, Stabler was the 1974 NFL MVP and led the Raiders to a win over the Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

On a conference call Friday, Stabler’s ex- head coach lauded the inner cool that his ex- quarterback had. He led his Foley High School team to state championships in 1962 and 1963. Madden believes the Raider should be in. “And he’s just coolly looking up at the stands”. “If there had been instant replay, it’s their ball”.

But they wouldn’t let Kenny Stabler into the Hall of Fame, because the committee didn’t like him.

In 2009, Stabler conceded he wasn’t the “first in the building and last to leave” type when it came to preparing to play football but said he didn’t have to be, considering the talent on the roster.

Stabler’s calm reached preposterous levels the following season, Madden recalled.

When the Tuscaloosa News broke the story that ex- Oakland Raiders’ great Ken Stabler passed earlier on Thursday, it was met with stunned disbelief.

But beyond his coolness under pressure and his moxie under center, his willingness to gamble and “win the hard way”, Stabler helped to revolutionize the quarterback position with his legs and feet.

Stabler came to symbolize those 1970’s Raider squads. He may be gone, but his legend will live on after him. He had a lust for life and always seemed to be having fun on the field. Mostly though, he was a Raider through and through.

-Tom LaMarre is the current golf writer for The Sports Xchange and covered the Oakland Raiders for the Oakland Tribune throughout the 1970s.