Post by TheShadow on Aug 19, 2007 10:26:02 GMT -5
www.al.com
By John Pruett
Former Raiders, Tide QB deserves pro football honor
The questioner said: "If I'm you, I'd be upset that I'm not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.''
Kenny Stabler smiled wryly and said: "Well, you're not me, and I'm not upset."
Maybe not. But lots of his friends and former teammates and former coaches are. John Madden, who coached the Oakland Raiders to their greatest heights in the 1970s with Stabler at quarterback, has frequently said it's a travesty that "Snake" Stabler's bust is missing from the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
When asked about it, as he often is, Stabler responded with a shrug, as he usually does.
"I played on a Hall of Fame team,'' Stabler said Thursday night before the University of Alabama's Madison County Alumni Club summer meeting at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. "I was coached by a Hall of Fame coach. Our team was owned by a Hall of Fame owner. I threw the ball to Hall of Fame players and handed the ball to Hall of Fame players. When you play with a bunch of Hall of Fame players, your name is going to come up because of having a long, successful career.
"You make some noise, you win some games, you put up some numbers, and your name's going to get thrown out there. Just the fact that you're mentioned for it should be compliment enough.
"It doesn't change my day and it doesn't upset me. If it happens, it happens. But my days usually stay pretty much the same.''
His days have always stayed pretty much the same, to tell the truth. Born on Christmas Day 61 years ago, the white-haired Crimson Tide icon still lives the good life down on the Redneck Riviera, near his Foley birthplace. He stays connected with Bama football by serving as the color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Eli Gold and by working with Chris Stewart on a popular statewide radio show.
Stabler played for Paul Bryant from 1965-67, a time when Alabama went 28-3-2 and won two SEC championships and a national championship. As the quarterback of the Raiders, he was named AFC Player of the Year in 1974, led the NFL in passing in '76 and played a key role in Oakland's first Super Bowl championship in '77.
A four-time Pro Bowler, Stabler played for the Raiders from 1970-79 and the Houston Oilers (1980-81) before finishing his career with the New Orleans Saints (1982-84).
Many besides Madden have long wondered why No. 12 has been overlooked for years by the Hall of Fame selection committee. Some believe his reputation as a good-time guy and a hell-raiser is part of the reason, an argument Stabler rejects out of hand.
"There are a bunch of good-time guys who're already in,'' he said, quite accurately.
But the Hall of Fame is a subject, he insists, that never crosses his mind - until somebody brings it up.
"I have no idea how the process works,'' he said, "but I've made every list you can make on that thing. I know they start out every year with 50 and they cut it to 30 or 40 and then to 10 or 15 and then it goes to 12 or eight. I made all those lists. I really don't know if I was ever on the final list. It's not something I keep up with.
"One of the lists is called 'The Best Player Who's Not in the Hall of Fame.' I've made that one, too.
"But honestly, I don't wonder about it and don't think about it. It's really not a question for me to answer. That's a good question for the people who're a part of the selection committee. They'd have a better answer than I would.''
Stabler's position remains consistent: Just making the list year in and year out is an honor unto itself.
"It's a compliment because it means a lot of people think you should be in, or think you're qualified to be in. I appreciate the things Coach Madden has said. We spent a lot of time planning and winning together. You expect that out of your coach, just like he expected things out of me. You expect your coach to be on your side and to want the best for you.
"But look at it this way: Think about all the really great players I played with, and against, who didn't make the list. Here's a good example: Archie Manning was a great, great player, but he was with the Saints. Given the same players I had, he'd have probably done the same thing as far as winning is concerned.''
Perhaps that's true, but even Archie would've had a tough time equaling the bar set by Stabler, who won 28 of 29 games as the quarterback at Foley, 28 of 33 games and a national championship at Alabama, then played in five straight AFC championship games in the NFL, not to mention the Super Bowl ring.
All this and the man's still not a member of football's most important museum?
John Madden is right. It's a travesty.