Roman Gabriel
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AFL draft: | 1962 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1 | ||||||||||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Head coaching record | |||||||||||||||||
Career: | College: 8–24 (.250) WLAF: 0–10 (.000) | ||||||||||||||||
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR | |||||||||||||||||
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (born August 5, 1940) is an American former
Early life and education
Gabriel was born to Edna Mae Wyatt and Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Sr., a Filipino immigrant, in Wilmington, North Carolina.[2] Gabriel grew up poor and suffered from asthma, but he played high school football at New Hanover High School, where he graduated in 1958.[3] He went on to star at quarterback at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
A two-time All-American and two-time ACC Player of the Year (1960–61), Gabriel finished his college career holding virtually every Wolfpack passing record. An academic All-American, Gabriel saw his jersey retired after his senior season and then presented to him by North Carolina governor Terry Sanford on January 20, 1962, at halftime of an NC State-Maryland basketball game in Reynolds Coliseum. As captain of his team, Gabriel set 22 school and nine conference football records. He threw for 2,961 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Known for his arm strength, he also played baseball and was voted the best amateur athlete in the Carolinas. In a three-year career, he passed for 20 touchdowns and ran for 15. The Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary Football Team was announced in 2003 and Gabriel was among the top 50 players in the history of the ACC to be listed.[4] Gabriel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
Professional career
Gabriel was the number one
Gabriel wore the number 18 with the Rams and the number 5 with the
Los Angeles Rams
From 1962 through 1965, Gabriel had a difficult time securing a starting quarterback job. Los Angeles Rams' coaches gave Zeke Bratkowski or Bill Munson the nod over Gabriel. However, due to other quarterbacks slumping or being injured, Gabriel did get to start 23 games from 1962 through 1965. The team's record in those games was 11–11–1. Although his record as a starter was average, the other Rams quarterbacks who started the other 33 games combined record was 4–27–2. Gabriel's significant wins include a 1965 victory to beat the eventual NFL champion Green Bay Packers and the 11–3 Cleveland Browns.
When
The following season, they were in another neck-and-neck battle for the Coastal Division title with the Colts. Going into the thirteenth game of the season, the Rams needed a win to stay within one-half game of the Colts, who would be coming to Los Angeles the following week for the season finale. However, the Rams took a 17–16 loss to the Chicago Bears and soon finished in second place.
In 1969, the Rams opened the season with an 11-game winning streak, which is still a Rams record, before suffering their first loss to the 10–1
In 1970, the league realigned, putting the Rams in contention with the San Francisco 49ers for the new NFC West Division title. After an upset loss at home to the lowly New York Jets (who were without the injured Joe Namath) in which Gabriel threw three interceptions, the Rams won three straight games, including a crucial 30–13 win over the 49ers to take over first place. Going into the thirteenth week of the season, the Rams participated in the first Monday Night Football game in the city of Los Angeles. However, despite over 300 yards passing from Gabriel, the Rams lost 28–23 to the Detroit Lions, putting the Rams back in 2nd place and left them a half-game behind the Lions for the wild card playoff spot. The Rams won their finale at the New York Giants 31–3 (eliminating the Giants from playoff contention) but failed to make the playoffs as the Lions won to secure the wild card spot, and the 49ers won to clinch the NFC Western Division title. From 1967 to 1970, Gabriel led the Rams to a 41–14–4 overall record and was named to three Pro Bowls during that four-year span.
In 1971, the veteran Rams began to show their age and Gabriel missed parts of every game due to knee and shoulder injuries. In addition, coach George Allen left for the Redskins after a long-running dispute with general manager Dan Reeves. Still, the Rams, despite playing the league's toughest schedule, faced almost the same situation as in 1970. After falling behind the 49ers in the seventh week of the season, they rallied back to take the division lead going into another matchup in Los Angeles on Monday night for the thirteenth week of the season, for which the matchup was against Washington (now coached by Allen). After falling behind 31–10, Gabriel led the Rams back to within 31–24 and was driving to a possible tying score when he was intercepted; it was returned for a touchdown and the Redskins won. Once again, the Rams fell into second place behind the 49ers and behind the Redskins for the wild card berth. Despite winning in Pittsburgh in the final week of the year, the 49ers came from behind to beat the Lions, 31–27, and win the division.
In 1972, Gabriel's knee and shoulder injury problems deteriorated. After making
Philadelphia Eagles
After the 1972 season, the Rams hired
Gabriel improved a 2–11–1 Eagles team to a 5–8–1 record. Gabriel was voted to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time and was voted the "Comeback Player of the Year" by Pro Football Weekly. For the 1973 season, Gabriel led the Eagles with 270 completions, 460 attempts, and 3,219 yards, and 23 touchdowns (all were league highs) as the Eagle offense was the most prolific passing game in the NFL. Gabriel played through 1977 but his final two years were in a backup role. In his last season, he backed up Ron Jaworski, who had played for the Rams from 1973 to 1976.
In his career, he had a winning record of 86–64–7 and passed for over 29,000 yards and 201 touchdowns. He is the only quarterback from his era to still rank high in the "lowest interception percentage" category in NFL passing statistics. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Gabriel to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2013.[9]
After his playing career, he had a brief two-year career as a member of the NFL on CBS broadcasting team from 1978 to 1979.
Coaching career
Gabriel was the last football coach at
Gabriel was head coach of the
Acting career
Gabriel was a frequent guest on television talk shows of the era, including The Merv Griffin Show, The Virginia Graham Show, The Rosey Grier Show, and The Joey Bishop Show.
Gabriel had a brief movie career, playing a prison guard in
Career statistics
Legend | |
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Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
1962 | LA | 6 | 4 | 0−3−1 | 57 | 101 | 56.4 | 670 | 6.6 | 3 | 2 | 78.4 | ||||
1963 | LA | 12 | 9 | 5−4 | 130 | 281 | 46.3 | 1,947 | 6.9 | 8 | 11 | 62.7 | ||||
1964 | LA | 7 | 6 | 3−3 | 65 | 143 | 45.5 | 1,236 | 8.6 | 9 | 5 | 82.4 | ||||
1965 | LA | 7 | 4 | 3−1 | 83 | 173 | 48.0 | 1,321 | 7.6 | 11 | 5 | 83.0 | ||||
1966 | LA | 14 | 14 | 8−6 | 217 | 397 | 54.7 | 2,540 | 6.4 | 10 | 16 | 65.9 | ||||
1967 | LA | 14 | 14 | 11−1−2 | 196 | 371 | 52.8 | 2,779 | 7.5 | 25 | 13 | 85.2 | ||||
1968 | LA | 14 | 14 | 10−3−1 | 184 | 366 | 50.3 | 2,364 | 6.5 | 19 | 16 | 70.0 | ||||
1969 | LA | 14 | 14 | 11−3 | 217 | 399 | 54.4 | 2,549 | 6.4 | 24 | 7 | 86.8 | ||||
1970 | LA | 14 | 14 | 9−4−1 | 211 | 407 | 51.8 | 2,552 | 6.3 | 16 | 12 | 72.2 | ||||
1971 | LA | 14 | 14 | 8−5−1 | 180 | 352 | 51.1 | 2,238 | 6.4 | 17 | 10 | 75.4 | ||||
1972 | LA | 14 | 12 | 6−6 | 165 | 323 | 51.1 | 2,027 | 6.3 | 12 | 15 | 63.8 | ||||
1973 | PHI | 14 | 14 | 5−8−1 | 270 | 460 | 58.7 | 3,219 | 7.0 | 23 | 12 | 86.0 | ||||
1974 | PHI | 11 | 11 | 4−7 | 193 | 338 | 57.1 | 1,867 | 5.5 | 9 | 12 | 66.8 | ||||
1975 | PHI | 11 | 9 | 2−7 | 151 | 292 | 51.7 | 1,644 | 5.6 | 13 | 11 | 67.8 | ||||
1976 | PHI | 4 | 4 | 1−3 | 46 | 92 | 50.0 | 476 | 5.2 | 2 | 2 | 63.5 | ||||
1977 | PHI | 13 | 0 | — | 1 | 3 | 33.3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 50.7 | ||||
Career | 183 | 157 | 86−64−7 | 2,366 | 4,498 | 52.6 | 29,444 | 6.5 | 201 | 149 | 74.3 | 358 | 1,304 | 3.6 | 30 |
Postseason statistics
Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
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GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
1967 | LA | 1 | 1 | 0−1 | 11 | 31 | 35.5 | 186 | 6.0 | 1 | 1 | 54.0 | 3 | 6 | 2.0 | 0 |
1969 | LA | 1 | 1 | 0−1 | 22 | 32 | 68.8 | 150 | 4.7 | 2 | 1 | 86.7 | 4 | 26 | 6.5 | 0 |
Career | 2 | 2 | 0−2 | 33 | 63 | 52.4 | 336 | 5.3 | 3 | 2 | 70.6 | 7 | 32 | 4.6 | 0 |
Head coaching record
College
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
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Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (California Collegiate Athletic Association ) (1980–1981)
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1980 | Cal Poly Pomona | 3–7 | 0–2 | 3rd | |||||
1981 | Cal Poly Pomona | 4–7 | 1–1 | 2nd | |||||
Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (Western Football Conference ) (1982)
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1982 | Cal Poly Pomona | 1–10 | 1–3 | 4th | |||||
Cal Poly Pomona: | 8–24 | 2–6 | |||||||
Total: | 8–24 |
Awards
- 1969: NFL Most Valuable Player Award, AP, UPI, NEA, and the Bert Bell MVP Trophy (Maxwell Club)
- 1970: Pro Bowl MVP
- 1973: NFL Comeback Player of the Year
See also
- Gunslinger
- List of most consecutive starts by a National Football League quarterback
References
- ^ Peng, Sheng (October 31, 2018). "The NFL's first Filipino-American quarterback's next challenge is the Hall of Fame". NBC News. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-5988-4240-1. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- ^ Chi, Samuel (August 29, 2013). "Who Says Asians Can't Play American Football?". The Diplomat. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
- ^ Friedlander, Brett (August 25, 2020). "Roman Gabriel Elected to National QB Hall of Fame". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
When the ACC announced its 50th Anniversary team in 2003, Gabriel was among those selected as top 50 players in conference history.
- ^ Favre above the pain[dead link]
- ^ "Gabriel, Las Vegas call off the deal". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Ore. April 19, 1973.
- ^ "Gabriel Is Traded To Eagles by Rams; Unitas Signs Pact". The New York Times. June 9, 1973. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ "1974 NFL Draft Pick Transactions, January 29 (Rounds 1–5) & 30 (Rounds 6–17)". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
- ^ "Hall of Very Good Class of 2013". Professional Researchers Association. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ "Bronco Golf Classic Raises $27,000 For Scholarships". California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Archived from the original on May 2, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
- UPI. December 27, 1982. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ "Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks History". World League of American Football. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
- ^ "Season 3, Episode 10 Topsy Turvy". TV Guide. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
- ^ "Roman Gabriel had an acting career?". 247Sports. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · Pro Football Reference ·
- Roman Gabriel at IMDb