Former Raiders QB Kenny The Snake Stabler has passed away at age 69.
Sigh… one of my all-time favorites. Practically INVENTED the two-minute drill.
When Ken Stabler was a Country Music Lyric Come to Life
Reprinting (with permission) of a 1980 Inside Sports article about him - a good read.
Kenny Stabler always hit the open receiver in stride, even if the guy was way the hell down field. In those days it wasn’t about precision routes, it was about getting open. Stabler found his open receivers.
Of course he had Art Shell and Gene Upshaw blocking for him.
As a Steeler fan who started watching football in the 70’s, I have many memories of Kenny Stabler leading the Raiders in some epic battles with the Steelers. Those were some great games.
This was a sad piece of news. RIP, Snake. You will be missed.
Yes Kenny had the “Immaculate Reception” game won after running for a TD late in the fourth quarter to make it a 7-6 win. Little did he know.
Tom Jackson of ESPN had a nice story about playing once against the Raiders while he was a linebacker for the Broncos. After the Broncos had taken a hard fought lead against the Raiders in the third quarter and then pinned Stabler back inside their own 10 yard line Jackson was lined up just across from Stabler when Stabler winked at him. That had been the Broncos final score and the Raiders won by three touchdowns. Jackson said it was as if Kenny was telling him the real game was just beginning and the Broncos wouldn’t be in it. He was the perfect QB for that team, that coach and that owner. I was shocked to discover that he is not in the HOF.
The single play that stands out in my memory is the “Sea Of Hands” TD pass to beat the Dolphins in the playoffs.
The “Holy Roller” was not one of his finer moments (it was more of an underhand pass than a fumble), but when you are a part of plays that have nicknames, that says a lot about the impact you’ve had on the league.
I didn’t like many Raiders back then, but I always thought Stabler was a good guy and probably the only guy I could see QB’ing that team during that era.
A class act. I never heard a bad story about him. (And to be honest, if there are any floating around, I would rather just remember him the way I do now.)
Bradshaw, Harris, Mean Joe Green. Steel Curtain. Lynn Swann later.
Great teams.
I grew up in the Bay Area watching the Raiders. I remember Ken Stabler as the epitome of coolness. He was immune to pressure. He would do things on the field that seemed like they would lead to disaster and would make them work. He’d throw a pass through an ocean of coverage with defenders coming within inches of making an interception, yet the ball would somehow end up in the hands of a Raiders receiver.
Yep.