Ken Stabler Deserves the Hall of Fame

            Ken Stabler’s death at age 69 from colon cancer has sparked numerous commentaries of a bygone era.  The NFL in the 1970’s was almost a different league from what it has become now.  Parity was but a sparkle in then Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s eye, player safety was an afterthought, and the now outdated adage that when you throw the ball only three things can happen and two of them are bad was considered football gospel.  The decade belonged to the rough and ready Steelers but started with Don Shula’s bruising Miami teams.  The precise and clinical Dallas teams of that era, piloted by Tom Landry’s genius, spawned future schemes.  Yet, it is the vagabond Oakland Raiders who embodied the decade. 

            The Raiders represented the undesirable element in the NFL to many fans in the 1970’s and maverick owner Al Davis gleefully played the villain.  However, Davis needed a field general for his rebel army.  As so often happens, Stabler was in the right place at the right time.  Stabler’s blend of on the field skill and off the field rebel rousing set the tone for the entire franchise.  The Snake could spend all Saturday night in the bars and then lead his team to a fourth quarter victory on Sunday.  There are numerous stories about Stabler’s accomplishments on and off the field.  Make no mistake, perhaps only Bobby Layne and Joe Namath are former or current NFL quarterbacks who can equal his accomplishments in both departments.  However, that line of thought does not answer the biggest question.  Why is Ken Stabler not in the Hall of Fame?

            Of course, anti-Raider bias accounts for some of this oversight.  Now the problem is that his passing numbers do not look impressive.  Despite finishing in the top ten of the NFL in passing yards, touchdown passes, and completion percentage every season from 1973 to 1979 Stabler’s career numbers are not eye popping.  Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Phillip Rivers, Carson Palmer, Tony Romo, Aaron Rodgers, and Matt Ryan are current players who have passed Stabler, who is 54^th all-time in career passing yards.  Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco will pass him on the list this season as well.  Making matters worse is the fact that Jon Kitna, Jake Plummer, Brad Johnson, and Rich Gannon are all ahead of Stabler.  All of this misses the point.  The name directly in front of the Snake on that list, a scant 51 yards in front, is Terry Bradshaw.

 

            The 1970’s were not a time for prolific passing.  It was a time for legendary games.  Winning is how quarterbacks are judged, and winning clutch games carries additional weight.  While Stabler’s one Super Bowl win does not equal Bradshaw’s four, it is more than Fran Tarkenton can claim.  In fact, Oakland’s victory in Super Bowl XI is one of the reasons the Vikings never won the Super Bowl.  No list of the NFL’s greatest games is complete without three installments from Ken Stabler.  The Sea of Hands ended Miami’s bid for a three-peat.  The Holy Roller forced a rules change and perfectly captured Stabler’s competitive ingenuity.  The Ghost to the Post sent the game into what would become a double overtime road playoff win for Oakland.  These plays represent more than a fleeting appearance on the NFL stage.  They represent a great player with a knack for finding the open man.  Ken Stabler left the game with a Hall of Fame caliber legacy.  Stabler may be gone, but the Veteran’s Committee still has his open candidacy.  It is time for Canton to find the open man.