Ken Stabler

Kenneth "Kenny" "Ken" Michael Stabler (born December 25, 1945 in Foley, Alabama), (a.k.a. "The Snake") is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Oakland Raiders (1970–1979), the Houston Oilers (1980–1981), and the New Orleans Saints (1982–1984). He played college football for the University of Alabama.

High school career
Stabler became a highly touted football player at Foley High School. He led Foley to a won-loss record of 29–1 over his high school career—the only loss coming against rival Fairhope High School. He was an all-around athlete in high school, averaging 29 points a game in basketball and excelling enough as a left-handed pitcher in baseball to receive minor-league contract offers from the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. During his high school career, he earned his nickname "the Snake" from his coach following a long, winding touchdown run.

College career
Stabler was recruited by legendary head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant at the University of Alabama, joining the team in 1964. Due to NCAA regulations at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play; therefore, Stabler would sit out during the 1964 season. In that season, the Crimson Tide won the National Championship with quarterback Joe Namath.

In the 1965 season, Stabler was used sparingly as a back-up to Steve Sloan at quarterback, following Namath's departure to the AFL. That year again, the Crimson Tide won their second consecutive National Championship, finishing the season with a record of 9-1-1. The team defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, 39–28.

As a junior in 1966, he took over the quarterback position full-time. He led the team to an undefeated, 11–0 season which ended in 34–7 rout of Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. Despite the unblemished record, the Tide was snubbed by the polls, finishing in third behind Notre Dame and Michigan State.

Expectations were high in Stabler's senior season, though those expectations would not be completely fulfilled. The offense often struggled, and the defense's performance slipped. During the season, Bryant kicked Stabler off the team for cutting class and partying, though he was given a second chance. The Tide finished with an 8–2–1 record, including a loss to rival Tennessee. Though the season was lackluster, Stabler would provide a memorable moment in the Iron Bowl. Trailing 3–0 in a game drenched by rain, Stabler scampered through the mud for a 53–yard, game-winning touchdown which gave the Tide a 7–3 victory over rival Auburn at Legion Field. The play is commonly referred to as the "Run in the Mud" in Alabama football lore.

Stabler finished his career at Alabama with a 28–3–2 record as a starter.

NFL career
Stabler was drafted in the second round of the 1968 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders. Stabler first attracted attention in the NFL in a 1972 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After entering the game in relief of Daryle Lamonica, he scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard scramble. The Steelers, however, came back to win on a controversial, deflected pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, known in football lore as The Immaculate Reception.

After suffering severe knee injuries, Stabler became less a scrambling quarterback and more a classic, drop-back passer, known for accurate passes and an uncanny ability to lead late, come-from-behind drives. During the peak of his career, he had a receiving corps consisting of sprinter and multiple Hall of Fame finalist Cliff Branch, Hall of Fame receiver Fred Biletnikoff, and a Hall of Fame tight end Dave Casper. The Raiders' philosophy was to pound teams with their running game, then stretch them with their long passing game. Although Stabler lacked remarkable arm strength, he was a master of the long pass to Branch, and accurate on intermediate routes to Biletnikoff and Casper. As a starter in Oakland, Stabler was named AFC player of the year in 1974 and 1976, and was the NFL's passing champion in 1976. In January 1977 he guided the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory, a 32-14 win over the Minnesota Vikings. In the 1977 AFC playoffs against the Baltimore Colts, Stabler completed a now-legendary fourth-quarter pass to Casper to set up a game-tying field goal by Errol Mann. This play, which is dubbed the "Ghost to the Post," sent the game to overtime; the Raiders won 37-31 after Stabler threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Casper.

After subpar 1978 and 1979 seasons in which the Raiders failed to make the playoffs- primarily due to the retirement and departures of key contributors during the Super Bowl run in 1976 (most notably head coach John Madden, George Atkinson, Phil Villapiano, and Biletnikoff)- Stabler was traded to the Houston Oilers for Dan Pastorini prior to the 1980 season, after a lengthy contract holdout. Stabler left the Raiders as their all-time leader in completions (1,486), passing yards (19,078), and touchdown passes (150). The Oilers, in turn, saw Stabler as the missing ingredient that could finally get them past the rival Steelers and into the Super Bowl. However Houston lacked the exceptional talent on offense that Stabler had thrived with in Oakland, as Earl Campbell and Dave Casper- who was also acquired in a trade from the Raiders- were the few potent weapons they had. Meanwhile, Pastorini lost the starting job in Oakland to Jim Plunkett after an injury, and Plunkett then led the Raiders over Stabler and the Oilers in the playoffs. Bum Phillips was fired shortly after the season. Without the popular head coach that rejuvenated an otherwise woeful Houston franchise, Stabler had a mediocre season in 1981 but re-joined Bum Phillips by signing with the New Orleans Saints in 1982. By this time, however, the 37-year-old Stabler was no longer in his prime and the Saints were also a dismal franchise. After 3 unsuccessful seasons that were plagued by injuries and a quarterback controversy with veteran Richard Todd, Stabler retired in the middle of the 1984 season.

Stabler was known for studying his playbook by the light of a nightclub jukebox and for his affinity for female fans. As Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw said, "When we were behind in the fourth quarter, with our backs to our end zone, no matter how he had played up to that point, we could look in his eyes and you knew, you knew, he was going to win it for us. That was an amazing feeling."

Stabler was the fastest to win 100 games as a starting quarterback, having done so in 150 games, which bettered Johnny Unitas' previous mark of 153 games. Since then, only Joe Montana and Tom Brady have reached 100 wins more quickly. Stabler is also the only quarterback from the NFL's All-1970's team not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In a recent NFL feature listing the top 10 players not in the Hall of Fame, Stabler was listed at number six, partly due to his off-field scandals, which in the 1970s were less prominent, or it could be that he never emulated the success he achieved in Oakland.

In the early part of 1974, Stabler and several NFL stars agreed to join the newly created World Football League. Stabler signed a contract to play for the Birmingham Americans. "I'm as happy as can be. Getting with a super organization and the financial benefits were key factors, but the biggest thing to me is getting back home. Getting to play before the people in the South is where it's at for me. In two years I'll be in Birmingham if I have to hitchhike," he said. "If I can do for the WFL what Joe Namath did for the AFL, I will feel that I have really accomplished something. I was born in the South and raised in the South and played football in the South. Oakland could have offered me as much money as Birmingham but they couldn't have let me play in the South." The WFL would end up folding mid-way through the 1975 season, and Stabler remained in the NFL without ever playing in the WFL.

Broadcasting career
Following his retirement as a player, Stabler worked as a color commentator, first on CBS NFL telecasts, and then on radio with Eli Gold for Alabama football games. Following his third DUI arrest since 1995, Stabler took a leave of absence for Alabama's 2008 season. Following his departure, he was replaced with Tom Roberts. In late October 2008, Stabler was acquitted of the DUI charge. In April 2009, the university announced that Stabler would not return to his commentator's position.

Popular culture

 * Stabler was featured on a SNL skit as the spokesman for a fictional product called the "Lung Brush".
 * Professional wrestler Jake "The Snake" Roberts adapted his nickname "The Snake" as a tribute to Stabler.
 * While playing for the Oilers, Stabler had his own soft drink, known as Snake Venom, sold in the city. In his autobiography, Stabler stated that the drink "tasted about like its name."
 * He made a cameo appearance on Married...With Children ("The Bud Bowl Episode").
 * In September 2006, Stabler partnered with children's book publisher Mascot Books to release his first kid's book, Roll Tide!.
 * Stabler was the grand marshal for the 2009 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
 * Stabler also appears in the book Gump and Co. A sequel to the book and movie Forest Gump as the New Orleans Saints quarterback.

Personal
Stabler has been married three times. He married Isabel Clarke in 1968 and divorced in 1971, then Debbie Fitzsimmons from 1971 to 1978. In 1984 he married actress Rose Molly Burch. The two have currently filed for divorce.

Stabler has three daughters, two of whom currently attend his alma mater, the University of Alabama.

His daughter Alexa currently serves as the international sweetheart of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.