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the now outdated adage that when you throw the ball only three things can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 54th 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.
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