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http://mmqb.si.com/2015/07/13/ken-stabler-hall-of-fame-nfl-peter-king/
By Peter King
The Snake, analyzed
Ken Stabler, the Oakland/Houston/New Orleans quarterback who is doubtless one of the most colorful characters in NFL history (just read this 1977 Sports Illustrated story if you’ve got any questions), died last week of colon cancer. He was 69. Most of his football friends had no idea he was that ill.
In the wake of his death, a fervent debate has been re-ignited: Should Stabler be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? It’s a difficult question to answer and, as a Hall of Fame voter, I’ll say Stabler’s case has come up a few times over the years and I could never get very worked up about it. Stabler, to me, is a borderline candidate from a very difficult time to judge the worthiness of quarterbacks because QB stats from 40 years ago can be so misleading. I’ll give you some of the arguments I’ve heard over the years and in recent days, and then give you my thoughts.
Argument: Stabler’s on the 1970s all-decade team, so that should merit inclusion on its own. The Team of the 1970s as voted by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters at the end of the decade, actually had Roger Staubach as the number one quarterback, with 13 votes. Terry Bradshaw and Stabler were next, with three votes apiece. Right or wrong, nine players from the first and second teams of that group are not in Canton. I’ve never thought that because you were voted to an all-decade team, it should be an automatic ticket to the Hall. What happens if, in some decade, the third and fourth guards, or the third and fourth outside linebackers, were very close in votes and ability to the fourth or fifth players at their positions?
Argument: Nobody personified the Raiders more than the wild Stabler, and he led a great franchise to some of its greatest moments. No question about it. He led the Raiders to the Super Bowl win in the 1976 season and had some great games when the stakes were highest. So shouldn’t the rollicking quarterback of this rebel football team be in the Hall? From 1973, when he took over the starting job, Stabler quarterbacked the Raiders to a 50-11-1 regular-season record over five years. That five-year stretch is easily his biggest argument for enshrinement, and if he ever gets in, I’d point to that and say, “You’ve got to be pretty good to win 50 out of 62.”
Argument: If Joe Namath is in, Stabler should be in. Here’s where stats get screwy and, to me, unimportant. Namath was a more prolific passer (197.6 passing yards per game, to Stabler’s 151.8) but not the winner Stabler was. (Namath: 62-63-4; Stabler: 96-49-1.) Each won one Super Bowl. But I’ve always thought Namath should be in because of his importance in football history. He was the first glamorous football player.
He made the American Football League matter, with his huge contract and his Broadway Joe fame. And he had perhaps the most significant pro football victory ever, the shocking upset of the Colts in Super Bowl III that catapulted the AFL to near-equality with the NFL. The leagues soon merged. So I’ve always felt Namath belonged because of his historic importance.
I think he occupies a unique space in football history. (I was not a voter in 1985, when he was elected.) Now, as voters, we’re supposed to consider what a player does on the field, not anything else. But Namath was so good so early in his career, with the charisma of a leader that was so valuable on the field, that New York and a competing league got smitten with him, and that style and competitiveness and ability all contributed to his greatness.
Among recent quarterbacks under Hall consideration, Kurt Warner had the strangest career—he came from stocking shelves to the NFL and had two bookend great runs surrounding a five-year donut hole mid-career. But Stabler’s career was exceedingly odd. It’s almost a career in quartiles:
I believe the Hall of Fame, in the vast majority of cases, has to be about sustained greatness. Stabler was great for five seasons. Some people would say that’s enough, along with the Super Bowl victory and being the greatest quarterback the Raiders have had. And I think it’s a good argument. For me, it’s just not a winning one.
—Then-Houston quarterback Ken Stabler, in 1980, to rookie beat man John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Seems that Stabler skipped practice one November day, and the Oilers didn’t know where he was, and he came in the next day as usual. McClain found him at his locker after practice, smoking a cigarette.
“Snake made Johnny Manziel look like a Buddhist monk.”
—Retired former Raiders beat man Bob Padecky, who wrote a stunning story in the wake of Ken Stabler about the time he went to Alabama to try to interview Stabler … and found himself arrested and charged with cocaine possession. These are the kinds of stories that just don’t happen anymore.
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/07/13/ken-stabler-hall-of-fame-nfl-peter-king/4/
I think of all the stories about Stabler I read over the weekend, this tale by John McClain about Stabler’s 1980 season in Houston was most stunning:
“In November, the Oilers went to New York to play the Jets at Shea Stadium. Stabler partied into the wee hours, blowing curfew and infuriating his coaches. Early Sunday morning, Stabler’s teammates saw him struggling to get out of a cab about the time they were preparing for the pregame meal. Hung over from his night on the town, Stabler was awful in the first half, throwing four interceptions—one returned for a touchdown—and the Oilers trailed 21-0 at halftime.
“In the dressing room at halftime, coach Bum Phillips was addressing his players, and some could hear Stabler throwing up in a bathroom area. Finally, Stabler emerged, sobered up and wiping his face with a towel. He told his teammates he was ready to go. Stabler threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including one to Richard Caster to make it 28-28. The Oilers lost 31-28 in overtime, but there was another story for the Stabler legend. I once asked Stabler why it took so long for him to play after being drafted in the second round in 1968. He told me he’d been on the taxi squad, played in the Continental League, and lived in a hippie commune for his first two years.”
I’d love to know how an event like that would be covered today—and what a 2015 NFL head coach would do if his starting quarterback did something like that the night before a game. It’s virtually unimaginable.
By Peter King
The Snake, analyzed
Ken Stabler, the Oakland/Houston/New Orleans quarterback who is doubtless one of the most colorful characters in NFL history (just read this 1977 Sports Illustrated story if you’ve got any questions), died last week of colon cancer. He was 69. Most of his football friends had no idea he was that ill.
In the wake of his death, a fervent debate has been re-ignited: Should Stabler be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? It’s a difficult question to answer and, as a Hall of Fame voter, I’ll say Stabler’s case has come up a few times over the years and I could never get very worked up about it. Stabler, to me, is a borderline candidate from a very difficult time to judge the worthiness of quarterbacks because QB stats from 40 years ago can be so misleading. I’ll give you some of the arguments I’ve heard over the years and in recent days, and then give you my thoughts.
Argument: Stabler’s on the 1970s all-decade team, so that should merit inclusion on its own. The Team of the 1970s as voted by the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters at the end of the decade, actually had Roger Staubach as the number one quarterback, with 13 votes. Terry Bradshaw and Stabler were next, with three votes apiece. Right or wrong, nine players from the first and second teams of that group are not in Canton. I’ve never thought that because you were voted to an all-decade team, it should be an automatic ticket to the Hall. What happens if, in some decade, the third and fourth guards, or the third and fourth outside linebackers, were very close in votes and ability to the fourth or fifth players at their positions?
Argument: Nobody personified the Raiders more than the wild Stabler, and he led a great franchise to some of its greatest moments. No question about it. He led the Raiders to the Super Bowl win in the 1976 season and had some great games when the stakes were highest. So shouldn’t the rollicking quarterback of this rebel football team be in the Hall? From 1973, when he took over the starting job, Stabler quarterbacked the Raiders to a 50-11-1 regular-season record over five years. That five-year stretch is easily his biggest argument for enshrinement, and if he ever gets in, I’d point to that and say, “You’ve got to be pretty good to win 50 out of 62.”
Argument: If Joe Namath is in, Stabler should be in. Here’s where stats get screwy and, to me, unimportant. Namath was a more prolific passer (197.6 passing yards per game, to Stabler’s 151.8) but not the winner Stabler was. (Namath: 62-63-4; Stabler: 96-49-1.) Each won one Super Bowl. But I’ve always thought Namath should be in because of his importance in football history. He was the first glamorous football player.
He made the American Football League matter, with his huge contract and his Broadway Joe fame. And he had perhaps the most significant pro football victory ever, the shocking upset of the Colts in Super Bowl III that catapulted the AFL to near-equality with the NFL. The leagues soon merged. So I’ve always felt Namath belonged because of his historic importance.
I think he occupies a unique space in football history. (I was not a voter in 1985, when he was elected.) Now, as voters, we’re supposed to consider what a player does on the field, not anything else. But Namath was so good so early in his career, with the charisma of a leader that was so valuable on the field, that New York and a competing league got smitten with him, and that style and competitiveness and ability all contributed to his greatness.
Among recent quarterbacks under Hall consideration, Kurt Warner had the strangest career—he came from stocking shelves to the NFL and had two bookend great runs surrounding a five-year donut hole mid-career. But Stabler’s career was exceedingly odd. It’s almost a career in quartiles:
- 1968 to 1972: The JV Years. On the bench behind Daryle Lamonica and George Blanda, mostly. Just two starts in five years.
- 1973 to 1977: The Golden Years. Leads the Raiders to the playoffs for five straight years, demolishes the Vikings to win a world title in January 1977, and twice leads the league in touchdown passes and passing accuracy.
- 1978 to 1980: The Divorce. After going 9-7 in both ’78 and ’79 and throwing 52 interceptions over those years, Al Davis trades him to Houston for Dan Pastorini. Stabler never wins another playoff game.
- 1981 to 1984: The End. Doesn’t have a winning season, and the interceptions keep coming. Considering how hard Stabler lived off the field, it’s amazing he started 14 games at age 38 for the Saints in 1983.
I believe the Hall of Fame, in the vast majority of cases, has to be about sustained greatness. Stabler was great for five seasons. Some people would say that’s enough, along with the Super Bowl victory and being the greatest quarterback the Raiders have had. And I think it’s a good argument. For me, it’s just not a winning one.
-
Stabler played his college ball at Alabama, under legendary coach Bear Bryant. (Bettmann/Corbis)
Stabler, with Raiders coach John Madden. (Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated)
On the field, Stabler led the Raiders to Super Bowl XI and later played for the Oilers and Saints. (Peter Read Miller/Sports Illustrated)
(James Drake/Sports Illustrated)
—Then-Houston quarterback Ken Stabler, in 1980, to rookie beat man John McClain of the Houston Chronicle. Seems that Stabler skipped practice one November day, and the Oilers didn’t know where he was, and he came in the next day as usual. McClain found him at his locker after practice, smoking a cigarette.
“Snake made Johnny Manziel look like a Buddhist monk.”
—Retired former Raiders beat man Bob Padecky, who wrote a stunning story in the wake of Ken Stabler about the time he went to Alabama to try to interview Stabler … and found himself arrested and charged with cocaine possession. These are the kinds of stories that just don’t happen anymore.
http://mmqb.si.com/2015/07/13/ken-stabler-hall-of-fame-nfl-peter-king/4/
I think of all the stories about Stabler I read over the weekend, this tale by John McClain about Stabler’s 1980 season in Houston was most stunning:
“In November, the Oilers went to New York to play the Jets at Shea Stadium. Stabler partied into the wee hours, blowing curfew and infuriating his coaches. Early Sunday morning, Stabler’s teammates saw him struggling to get out of a cab about the time they were preparing for the pregame meal. Hung over from his night on the town, Stabler was awful in the first half, throwing four interceptions—one returned for a touchdown—and the Oilers trailed 21-0 at halftime.
“In the dressing room at halftime, coach Bum Phillips was addressing his players, and some could hear Stabler throwing up in a bathroom area. Finally, Stabler emerged, sobered up and wiping his face with a towel. He told his teammates he was ready to go. Stabler threw four touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including one to Richard Caster to make it 28-28. The Oilers lost 31-28 in overtime, but there was another story for the Stabler legend. I once asked Stabler why it took so long for him to play after being drafted in the second round in 1968. He told me he’d been on the taxi squad, played in the Continental League, and lived in a hippie commune for his first two years.”
I’d love to know how an event like that would be covered today—and what a 2015 NFL head coach would do if his starting quarterback did something like that the night before a game. It’s virtually unimaginable.
