Ken "The Snake" Stabler dies at 69

MuzzyField · Jul 10, 2015

Enjoyed a few interviews with him during my time working in Bama, great storyteller.
I shared a table for a couple of meals with him in the press box at Bryant-Denny, Stabler was a walking football version of Ball Four.
Snake played the game hard and the game gave it right back.
Fuck cancer!

RIP #12.

grsharky7 · Jul 10, 2015

RIP-some great stories about the Snake. He would never make it in today's outrage society if he was still playing.

TheoShmeo · Jul 10, 2015

Two Pats centric comments:

One, I can't believe that the despicable Ben Dreith outlasted Stabler. I can't hear Stabler's name without thinking of Dreith and that Dreith is still kicking around at 90 while Stabler passes at 69 seems wrong.

Two, I like that Stabler was honest enough to say this:

"That should have never been a penalty," Stabler told McDonough. "I got hit a lot worse than that in my career and it was never called. Hamilton just went for the ball and landed on me. That's all that happened."

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2014/09/flashback_friday_its_still_tough_to_look_back_at_r.html

Spacemans Bong · Jul 10, 2015

He sort of reminds me a little of Luis Tiant. Probably not a Hall of Famer by a reasonable standard, but better than some people in it. Had a monster season in 1976, the way Luis had a monster season in 1968. Oozed charisma, although his was more of the hard-living type than Luis. One of the icons of the 1970s NFL. RIP.

Average Reds · Jul 10, 2015

Maybe some news organization can get Bob Padecky to write Stabler's obituary.

Stabler was a decent quarterback with a colorful personality. But he was an awful human being and I can't get all misty at his passing,

lambeau · Jul 10, 2015

Stabler was tremendously talented, and as exciting to watch as anyone ever.

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/29/a-deeper-look-at-the-stabler-hall-of-fame-debate/

And a good reminder as you approach 50 to get your colonoscopy, even though you're immortal and it can't happen to you.

rlsb · Jul 10, 2015

He played for Oail Phillips in two different cities after his Raider days. NFL MVP in 1974, the "Sea of Hands" year.

Gunfighter 09 · Jul 10, 2015

Average Reds said:
Maybe some news organization can get Bob Padecky to write Stabler's obituary.

Stabler was a decent quarterback with a colorful personality. But he was an awful human being and I can't get all misty at his passing,

Were you hoping someone would ask you to explain? Just fucking write what you want to say.

lambeau · Jul 10, 2015

"I've often said, if I had one drive to win a game to this day, and I had a quarterback to pick, I'd pick Kenny."--John Madden today to NY Times.

BannedbyNYYFans.com · Jul 10, 2015

Gunfighter 09 said:
Were you hoping someone would ask you to explain? Just fucking write what you want to say.

He's referencing the set-up of reporter Bob Padecky back in the late '70s. Padecky wrote for a Bay Area newspaper and was writing a not so flattering piece on Stabler. As part of the article, Padecky was interviewing Kenny and various friends in his hometown in Alabama. When the Stabler interview concluded, Padecky walked to his car and was arrested for possession of cocaine. The rental car he was using had cocaine hidden under the wheel. Padecky was taken into custody for a while then "released"...by being driven straight to the airport by two policemen. It was a not so subtle hint of "Leave Kenny alone and don't come back here". The FBI later investigated and found that Padecky did nothing wrong.

Some believe Stabler had him set up (which Stabler furiously denied), others believe the small town police chief did it on his own. Still others believe Stabler's friends planted the coke (without Stabler's knowledge) and tipped the police off. Nobody knows for sure. But both Stabler and Padecky said they're over the incident.

Stabler also had three DUIs.

I lived in the Bay Area for about eight years and never heard a bad word about Stabler. Teammates supposedly loved him and he did a ton of charity work. I think calling him an "awful human being" is a stretch but to each his own.

Average Reds · Jul 10, 2015

Gunfighter 09 said:
Were you hoping someone would ask you to explain? Just fucking write what you want to say.

Had no idea that what I wrote would touch a nerve, but I actually wrote a long post full of the details and then removed it because I thought it was inappropriate for a thread about Stabler's death. So I make a quick reference, said I thought he was a good QB but not a very good human and left it at that. The point was not to be coy or set anyone up to ask me, it was to dial down what I had already written to be more aligned with what I thought the thread was. I'll admit that I also assumed that anyone who followed Stabler's career would also get the reference.

BBNYYfans has it mostly right, except the setup was more intricate than this. Padecky wrote an article that was mildly critical of Stabler in mid-season and Stabler responded by refusing to speak with the press for the remainder of the season. (I believe this was 1979.) About a month into the offseason, Stabler called up Padecky and asked him to come down to Alabama to patch things up and he'd give Padecky an in-person interview.

Stabler took him to lunch in two different locations. After 10 minutes at the first restaurant, Stabler indicated that they restaurant "wasn't right" and insisted they go somewhere else. At the second stop, he did the same thing. This time, when Padecky left the lot state troopers were waiting for him and found cocaine as indicated above.

Edit: to remove snark

Gunfighter 09 · Jul 10, 2015

Average Reds said:
Sorry that I offended you by not genuflecting in front of the corpse of Kenny Stabler. What I wanted to say is what I wrote - Stabler was a shitty human being. And the incident was very well known so I assumed that most fans of Stabler were aware of the details.

BBNYYfans has it mostly right, except the setup was more of a manned sting than this. (Stabler actually invited the reporter down and then set him up.)

I'm not offended and I don't have any particular love for Stabler, your first post was just wasn't clear. I thought you were going to say something about his drinking or participation in the segregation era SEC.

I'm moderately familiar with most things Raiders related and had never heard that story. It's interesting and disappointing, as well as typical of how the 70s era Raiders operated. The most critical thing I had ever heard about Stabler was not to leave your attractive female significant other alone around him and don't expect him to leave you the last shot in a bottle of booze. In terms of Raiders alumni who did not have a good relationship with Al Davis, he was particularly well liked by the older fans and former players. I also know the Belitnikoff charity, for example, featured him quite regularly, though many people would tell you he wasn't much of a fan of leaving Alabama to come to California. Both at Alabama and around the Raiders, the love and fond memories of Stabler seemed greater than what his contribution was to either organization, which probably speaks to how great a person he was to those who were close to him.

Stabler was a complicated guy personally and was overrated as a player. I certainly hope Jim Plunkett or Cliff Branch would receive HoF consideration before Stabler. Many smart Raider fans realize that, despite some great fourth quarter heroics on his part, Stabler (and a scared ref in Pittsburgh) is the reason those teams didn't win multiple titles.

BannedbyNYYFans.com · Jul 10, 2015

Average Reds said:
Had no idea that what I wrote would touch a nerve, but I actually wrote a long post full of the details and then removed it because I thought it was inappropriate for a thread about Stabler's death. So I make a quick reference, said I thought he was a good QB but not a very good human and left it at that. The point was not to be coy or set anyone up to ask me, it was to dial down what I had already written to be more aligned with what I thought the thread was. I'll admit that I also assumed that anyone who followed Stabler's career would also get the reference.

BBNYYfans has it mostly right, except the setup was more intricate than this. Padecky wrote an article that was mildly critical of Stabler in mid-season and Stabler responded by refusing to speak with the press for the remainder of the season. (I believe this was 1979.) About a month into the offseason, Stabler called up Padecky and asked him to come down to Alabama to patch things up and he'd give Padecky an in-person interview.

Stabler took him to lunch in two different locations. After 10 minutes at the first restaurant, Stabler indicated that they restaurant "wasn't right" and insisted they go somewhere else. At the second stop, he did the same thing. This time, when Padecky left the lot state troopers were waiting for him and found cocaine as indicated above.

Edit: to remove snark

I never heard the details. This definitely adds an uglier slant and makes Stabler look culpable. Thanks for shedding light on the story.

MuzzyField · Jul 10, 2015

His personal demons, booze in particular, cost him his role as the Jerry Remy of Crimson Tide football.

Given the worship level of the Crimson Tide fandom it takes great effort for a successful starting QB, who played under Bear, to fall out of favor. He had to go off the rails multiple times (not just the DUI's) before the process even started. Stabler never imagined that he could burn his Bama bridge down. He thought he was bulletproof.

Being around Stabler and Namath too, both were in their mid-50's when I moved to Huntsville and started covering the Tide, and seeing the physical (and mental) toll playing QB extracted from each was stunning and quite sad. I had just left Sarasota and was convinced Otto Graham was in better physical and mental shape.

mauf · Jul 10, 2015

So when writers say Stabler's off-field behavior kept him out of Canton, do we think that's the Padecky incident, or is it the broader picture MuzzyField paints?

(I realize there's also an argument -- laid out well above by GF09 -- that Stabler doesn't belong on merit. I'm responding to the conventional wisdom that the writers have kept him out due to bad behavior.)

lambeau · Jul 10, 2015

Paul Zimmerman of SI pitched a fit at Hall of Fame selection meetings (sportswriters), demanding that Stabler be blackballed due to the Padecky affair--which I find completely ridiculous.

The question of merit is interesting. Of the SB winners in the 70's, the rest --Unitas,Bradshaw, Staubach, Bob Griese, and Len Dawson --are in. Leaving Unitas aside, Bradshaw's rings make him stand apart--but the others?
They didn't have more passing yards than Stabler (28,000), or longer careers, or much better passer ratings, or more winning --he won 69 in 7years as the starter in Oakland; Staubach won 82 over his 8 years starting in Dallas. Stabler averaged over 200 passing yds/game in 13 playoff games, same as Bradshaw; better than Dawson, and way better than Griese (130) or Staubach (120). He had a better career comp % of 61% --Bradshaw 51%.

Beyond statistics, he was smart. He read defenses, called his own plays, and was creative. Not only Madden, but Bill Walsh said he was the best come-from-behind QB he ever saw (after Joe).
Statistics support that--he had 20 game-winning drives in his 7 years starting in Oakland ('73-'79); Montana had 27 over 10 years ('81-'90) starting in SF. (Yes, then came Marino, Elway, Manning, and TB12.)
Like Dawson and Staubach, he didn't become a starter until age 28, and like Namath, he had terrible knees. But he had twice the playoff passing yardage of Dawson and Griese, and about the same as Staubach.

His RT John Vella is probably right that the Steel Curtain and the No-Name Defense feared The Snake more than any other 70's QB. PR-wise he was the anti-Staubach, and the Raiders the anti-Cowboys.
But he was probably the equal of Bradshaw and Staubach, let alone Griese and Dawson.

BannedbyNYYFans.com · Jul 11, 2015

Yesterday Padecky wrote a really good column on Stabler and the cocaine incident. These two parts stood out to me...

Snake made Johnny Manziel look like a Buddhist monk. Snake was more fun to watch than Chinese acrobats. Snake could ride shotgun in any car I was driving because, well, Snake, might be carrying a shotgun. Snake was a thrill ride, a roller coaster all by himself, and those Raiders of the ’70s happily, gratefully, took a seat behind him.

History is best written after the passage of time, smoothing out the raw edges of hyperactive impulse. The last time I saw Snake was 2009 at Sonoma Raceway. He smiled. I smiled. I said Kenny. He said Bob. We shook hands. I wasn’t expecting a dinner invitation, not even a mint under my pillow or a magnetic key case in my wheel well. What I did see, however, was what I was hoping to see. Time took both of us down a notch. The most bizarre story in the history of sports gave us both a moment of pause. Jan. 22, 1979 linked us forever but didn’t define us. Which brings me to write something I never thought I would.

[SIZE=14.3999996185303px]I liked Kenny Stabler. And I will miss him.[/SIZE]

Average Reds · Jul 11, 2015

You know, that's kind of why I originally suggested that someone should get Padecky to write an obit.

Good for him that he eventually mended fences with Stabler. If he can move beyond it, everyone else should.

bakahump · Jul 13, 2015

2nd Best LH QB of all times behind Young?

Edit:Never mind.....Boomer.

Ken "The Snake" Stabler dies at 69

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