Post by TheShadow on Apr 2, 2006 9:51:16 GMT -5
www.sfgate.com
Avoiding Snake eyes
Mature, content Stabler thinking of others today
by Glenn Dickey, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sweet Home Alabama is not a song or movie title to former Raiders
quarterback Ken Stabler but a way of life.
Stabler was born and raised in Alabama and still lives there, in Mobile. He
was an All-America quarterback at Alabama, and he's now part of the
broadcast team for the Crimson Tide Network that has 80 radio stations
throughout the south. The second of his three daughters, Alexa, will be
entering Alabama in the fall and his third daughter, Marissa, will be there
in another couple of years, he promises.
A true son of the South.
Right now, though, Stabler is in Reno, where the second annual Ken Stabler
Celebrity Golf tournament will be held Monday, benefiting the World Health &
Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps those with spinal
cord injuries, diabetes, MS and other disabling diseases. The tournament
will be held at the Arrowcreek course. The first tournament, last year, was
at Blackhawk in Danville.
The idea for the tournament came from Gary Nerison, president of the WHEF
and a leader in acquiring funds for stem cell research.
"When he contacted me last year, I thought this was something I'd like to be
part of,'' said Stabler, who has his own foundation in Mobile which raises
money for children with disabilities. "I talked with Joe Martin (of Joe
Martin Events) and he put it together.''
Numerous past and present players from the NFL will be at the tourney,
including several of Stabler's former teammates, among them Jim Otto, Fred
Biletnikoff, Willie Brown, Jack Tatum, Ben Davidson and Tom Keating.
It was no problem for Stabler to get his former teammates to play in the
tournament, because he still keeps in close touch with many of them.
"I have very fond memories of the Bay Area and Santa Rosa, where we trained
all those years,'' he said. "I come out there a couple of times a year to
get with old friends.''
At one time, Stabler toyed with the idea of starting a restaurant in Jack
London Square -- he's had bars and restaurants in Houston, where he was
traded by the Raiders, and Mobile -- but that never worked out.
For many Raiders fans in the '70s, Stabler was a symbol of the team, both
because of his rollicking lifestyle and his gambling, almost reckless style
of play.
"People still ask me about some of those games,'' he said, "like the 1974
playoff game against Miami, when Clarence Davis caught the winning
touchdown, the 'Sea of Hands' game.''
That touchdown pass epitomized the Stabler style because he threw it despite
the fact that Davis was surrounded by defenders.
"It probably should have been intercepted,'' Stabler admitted. He was
confident he could complete it, though, and he did.
That confidence never wavered, even when things went bad. In a 1977 game
against Denver, he threw seven interceptions because he believed to the end
that he could pull out the win. Later, he told reporters, "Win some, lose
some. ''
He never lost his cool. When a game-opening drive stalled in the '77 Super
Bowl and the Raiders had to settle for a field goal, Stabler told his
frantic coach, John Madden, "Relax, John. There are plenty more points where
that came from.'' He was right. The Raiders beat Minnesota 32-14.
In a 1977 playoff game in Baltimore which was in the second overtime, the
Raiders were driving when the Colts called a timeout. When Stabler came off
the field, he was looking into the stands.
"You've got to concentrate, Snake,'' Madden said.
"You know, John,'' Stabler said. "I was just thinking -- those people are
seeing a helluva game today.''
When the timeout ended, Stabler went back on the field and threw the winning
touchdown pass to tight end Dave Casper.
"Those were great times,'' he said. "Quarterbacks called the plays in those
days, and John basically just threw the playbook at me at the start of the
week and said, 'Pick out what you want.'
"We had great players, too. Four offensive players from our Super Bowl team
are in the Hall of Fame -- Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Fred Biletnikoff and Dave
Casper.''
After his playing career, Stabler did some regional college games on TV - -
"The television thing didn't really do much for me'' -- before he turned to
radio.
The once high-living Stabler seems to have calmed down, delighting in his
daughters. His oldest daughter, Kendra, who lives in Phoenix with her
husband, will be at the tournament with her two sons. Both of Stabler's
younger daughters are interested in electronic journalism.
"I think Alexa wants to be the next Katie Couric,'' he said. "Marissa is a
sports fan like me. She wants to be the first female anchor on a pregame
football show.''
Could be. They have the genes of a champion.