Angry Pope
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The Case for Canton: Ken Stabler
The NFL's Hall of Fame Game was not too long ago, and it got people talking about the great debate.
Who should be in the Hall of Fame, and who shouldn't?
I'll leave the benefit of the doubt mainly to the guys that do the voting. They are around football more, they talk about it more, it's their livelihood, and they know more about it. For all intents and purposes, they do a good job and know what they're talking about. Instead of talking about who should and shouldn't be in...for the most part...we look at the NFL Hall of Fame as simply one of the greatest honors in sports, and watch in admiration as the greatest to ever play the game are enshrined one by one.
But there is one that is being left out and, by NFL Hall of Fame standards, should not be. He's Kenny Stabler.
Ken Stabler is the color commentator for the Alabama Crimson Tide, a cohort to the voice of Alabama, Eli Gold. But before Stabler was known for his quick comments and gray hair, he was known for another type of gray--Raider gray.
Stabler's college stats are really not as impressive as you'd think. He had really only one good year--1967--in which he threw for 1214 yards. Even then, however, he threw for only 9 touchdowns and tossed 13 interceptions. Numbers that, today, we would attribute to a middle-of-the-pack quarterback and not a legend. But, remember, it was the 60s. Alabama had Paul Bryant and was a running system.
But Stabler was surrounded by outstanding talent. While at Alabama, Stabler was a part of the 1965 National Champion team, led the 1966 team to an 11-0 record, and captured two SEC titles, an Orange Bowl (1967, he was voted MVP for the Tide's 34-7 win over Nebraska), and a Sugar Bowl. While Stabler was at Alabama, the Tide went 28-3-2.
His days at Alabama are known more for the "Run in the Mud" against Auburn, and for being a part of one of the most awesome eras of college football any team has ever seen. He was, though not outstanding numbers-wise, a talented and dependable quarterback.
He was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, and didn't make any sort of mark until 1972, when he scored the go-ahead touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers that was not the "winning" touchdown, due to some little thing called The Immaculate Reception.
After chronic knee problems and numerous surgeries, Stabler changed from a scrambling quarterback to a deadly-accurate drop-back passer. His credentials as a quarterback support this. He was twice the AFC player of the year (1974 and 1976) and, in '76, was the NFL's top passer. He was as clutch a playoff quarterback as there was in the '70s, and led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl, in 1977.
So how do the numbers stack up to Hall of Fame standards?
The most comparable quarterback to Stabler is, ironically, one of his predecessors at Alabama--Joe Namath.
Namath, who is in the NFL Hall of Fame, played 143 games in the National Football League. His numbers look like this:
3762 attempts, 1886 completions, a 50.1% completion rate
27663 yards, 173 TDs, 220 INTs.
Stabler, who isn't in Canton, looks like this:
3793 attempts, 2270 completions, 59.8% completion rate
27938 yards, 194 touchdowns, 222 INTs.
Eerily similar numbers for two guys who were very much alike, and Stabler's are even better, for the most part. More completions, yards, touchdowns and higher completion rate.
Maybe it's credentials that are keeping him out. Again, Namath:
-First to pass for 4,000 yards in a season
-Guaranteed, then won, Super Bowl III
-AFL "All-Time Team"
-1968 AFL "Player of the Year"
-Four "AFL all-star teams"
-One "AFC-NFC Pro Bowl"
And, Stabler:
-1974, 1976 AFC “Player of the Year”
-1974 “Offensive Player of the Year”
-1976 NFL “Player of the Year” and NFL Passing Champion
-1977 led the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings
-“All Pro Team” in 1974, 1976 & 1977
-Played the Pro Bowl in 1973, 1974 & 1976
-Most victories of a Raiders quarterback - 71
-All time leading Raiders passer in attempts, completions, completion percentage, yardage and touchdowns
The main difference in Joe Namath and Ken Stabler is that Namath's career, and subsequently his stats, were with the AFL, not the NFL. Before the two leagues merged, the AFL was considered the little brother to the NFL, and Namath's signing with the Jets (after being drafted by the NFL's Cardinals) in 1965, was shocking. To guarantee a victory in Super Bowl III over the Colts was ridiculous. To actually go out and do it, was insane.
So perhaps, taking that into account, one could also take into account the fact that perhaps Namath's off-the-field antics (the fur coat on the sidelines, panty hose commercials, constant sound bites in the press) are as much a reason for his Hall of Fame enshrinement as are his stats. Stabler was relatively quiet, as NFL quarterbacks go, and not often in the public eye. When many think of NFL quarterbacks of that era, they think of Namath...not Stabler. And that could have serious weight when being considered for Canton.
Still, Stabler's numbers exceed those of a Hall of Fame quarterback, as do his credentials. His place should be in the NFL Hall of Fame as much as it is in the Alabama broadcast booth, and the numbers back it up.
The Case for Canton: Ken Stabler
The NFL's Hall of Fame Game was not too long ago, and it got people talking about the great debate.
Who should be in the Hall of Fame, and who shouldn't?
I'll leave the benefit of the doubt mainly to the guys that do the voting. They are around football more, they talk about it more, it's their livelihood, and they know more about it. For all intents and purposes, they do a good job and know what they're talking about. Instead of talking about who should and shouldn't be in...for the most part...we look at the NFL Hall of Fame as simply one of the greatest honors in sports, and watch in admiration as the greatest to ever play the game are enshrined one by one.
But there is one that is being left out and, by NFL Hall of Fame standards, should not be. He's Kenny Stabler.
Ken Stabler is the color commentator for the Alabama Crimson Tide, a cohort to the voice of Alabama, Eli Gold. But before Stabler was known for his quick comments and gray hair, he was known for another type of gray--Raider gray.
Stabler's college stats are really not as impressive as you'd think. He had really only one good year--1967--in which he threw for 1214 yards. Even then, however, he threw for only 9 touchdowns and tossed 13 interceptions. Numbers that, today, we would attribute to a middle-of-the-pack quarterback and not a legend. But, remember, it was the 60s. Alabama had Paul Bryant and was a running system.
But Stabler was surrounded by outstanding talent. While at Alabama, Stabler was a part of the 1965 National Champion team, led the 1966 team to an 11-0 record, and captured two SEC titles, an Orange Bowl (1967, he was voted MVP for the Tide's 34-7 win over Nebraska), and a Sugar Bowl. While Stabler was at Alabama, the Tide went 28-3-2.
His days at Alabama are known more for the "Run in the Mud" against Auburn, and for being a part of one of the most awesome eras of college football any team has ever seen. He was, though not outstanding numbers-wise, a talented and dependable quarterback.
He was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, and didn't make any sort of mark until 1972, when he scored the go-ahead touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers that was not the "winning" touchdown, due to some little thing called The Immaculate Reception.
After chronic knee problems and numerous surgeries, Stabler changed from a scrambling quarterback to a deadly-accurate drop-back passer. His credentials as a quarterback support this. He was twice the AFC player of the year (1974 and 1976) and, in '76, was the NFL's top passer. He was as clutch a playoff quarterback as there was in the '70s, and led the Raiders to their first Super Bowl, in 1977.
So how do the numbers stack up to Hall of Fame standards?
The most comparable quarterback to Stabler is, ironically, one of his predecessors at Alabama--Joe Namath.
Namath, who is in the NFL Hall of Fame, played 143 games in the National Football League. His numbers look like this:
3762 attempts, 1886 completions, a 50.1% completion rate
27663 yards, 173 TDs, 220 INTs.
Stabler, who isn't in Canton, looks like this:
3793 attempts, 2270 completions, 59.8% completion rate
27938 yards, 194 touchdowns, 222 INTs.
Eerily similar numbers for two guys who were very much alike, and Stabler's are even better, for the most part. More completions, yards, touchdowns and higher completion rate.
Maybe it's credentials that are keeping him out. Again, Namath:
-First to pass for 4,000 yards in a season
-Guaranteed, then won, Super Bowl III
-AFL "All-Time Team"
-1968 AFL "Player of the Year"
-Four "AFL all-star teams"
-One "AFC-NFC Pro Bowl"
And, Stabler:
-1974, 1976 AFC “Player of the Year”
-1974 “Offensive Player of the Year”
-1976 NFL “Player of the Year” and NFL Passing Champion
-1977 led the Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings
-“All Pro Team” in 1974, 1976 & 1977
-Played the Pro Bowl in 1973, 1974 & 1976
-Most victories of a Raiders quarterback - 71
-All time leading Raiders passer in attempts, completions, completion percentage, yardage and touchdowns
The main difference in Joe Namath and Ken Stabler is that Namath's career, and subsequently his stats, were with the AFL, not the NFL. Before the two leagues merged, the AFL was considered the little brother to the NFL, and Namath's signing with the Jets (after being drafted by the NFL's Cardinals) in 1965, was shocking. To guarantee a victory in Super Bowl III over the Colts was ridiculous. To actually go out and do it, was insane.
So perhaps, taking that into account, one could also take into account the fact that perhaps Namath's off-the-field antics (the fur coat on the sidelines, panty hose commercials, constant sound bites in the press) are as much a reason for his Hall of Fame enshrinement as are his stats. Stabler was relatively quiet, as NFL quarterbacks go, and not often in the public eye. When many think of NFL quarterbacks of that era, they think of Namath...not Stabler. And that could have serious weight when being considered for Canton.
Still, Stabler's numbers exceed those of a Hall of Fame quarterback, as do his credentials. His place should be in the NFL Hall of Fame as much as it is in the Alabama broadcast booth, and the numbers back it up.
