Roman Gabriel, one among skilled football's leading passers of his era who complemented his rocket arm with an imposing physique over 16 seasons starting in 1962, died Saturday at his home in Little River, South Carolina. He was 83.
His death was confirmed by his son, Roman Gabriel III, who didn’t give a cause.
Gabriel played with the Los Angeles Rams for eleven seasons and with the Philadelphia Eagles for five seasons. He stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 250 kilos—heavy for a quarterback in that era—and had a physique just like that of many linebackers he displayed.
He was voted NFL MVP when he led the league with 24 touchdown passes in a season with the 1969 Rams.
He was also named Comeback Player of the Year by pro football writers in 1973, his first season with the Eagles. Despite knee problems and a sore arm, he led the NFL in touchdown passes (23), completions (270) and passing yards (3,219) this season.
He played in 4 Pro Bowl games, three with the Rams within the late Sixties and one other with the Eagles in 1973. However, he only reached the postseason twice and his Rams were eliminated in the primary round each times.
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. was born on August 5, 1940 in Wilmington, North Carolina. His father, a Filipino native, railroad servant and cook, had settled in North Carolina along with his wife, Edna (Wyatt) Gabriel, an Irish American.
Gabriel was a standout football, baseball and basketball player in highschool and was offered a contract with the New York Yankees organization, but selected to check college as an alternative.
He played from 1959 to 1961 for North Carolina State football teams that emphasized the running attack. He threw 19 touchdown passes, ran for one more 15 and was a two-time All-American.
At a time when the American Football League was entering its third season and competing with the NFL for school talent, Gabriel was chosen by the Oakland Raiders with the No. 1 pick within the AFL within the 1962 draft and by the Rams with the second pick within the NFL Draft.
He signed with the Rams. But he began fewer than half of his games in his first 4 seasons, when the team typically featured several other quarterbacks.
Gabriel was named the Rams' regular quarterback when George Allen became head coach in 1966 and led the team to an 8-6 record. It was the Rams' first winning season since 1958.
“George Allen said, 'I think you can play.' He gave me hope,” Gabriel recalled in a 2018 video interview with Phil Boyd on YouTube, “The Book of Roman: The NFL's Original Gunslinger.”
“He brought in Ted Marchibroda” — a former pro quarterback who became the Rams’ offensive line coach — “and he taught me more about football than anyone else in my career.”
Gabriel had already gotten himself into great shape by practicing martial arts and lifting weights.
“Before that, the rule was that you didn't want to lift weights because your muscles would weaken and you'd lose flexibility,” Marchibroda, who later served as head coach of the then-Baltimore Colts and Baltimore Ravens, told The New York Times in 2005.
Gabriel threw for two,779 yards and 25 touchdowns in 1967 because the Rams finished 11-1-2 but lost to the Green Bay Packers within the playoffs. Two years later, as he was en path to his MVP award, his Rams won their first 11 games before losing to the Minnesota Vikings. They finished 11-3 but were defeated again within the playoffs, this time by Minnesota.
He was surrounded by players who were stars in their very own right, including receivers Jack Snow and Bernie Casey; running back Dick Bass; defensive linemen Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones and Roger Brown; and linebacker Maxie Baughan.
When Chuck Knox replaced Allen as head coach in 1973, the Rams brought in John Hadle from the San Diego Chargers with the intention of creating him their starting quarterback.
Gabriel asked to be traded. He was sent to an Eagles team that had a 2-11-1 record in 1972 and had a brand new head coach, Mike McCormack.
“Mike said that with my experience and leadership on a young football team, he felt like I would feel like Moses,” Gabriel recalled in a 2015 interview for the Eagles’ website. But he recalled McCormack adding: “We need your leadership and work ethic.”
The Eagles improved to 5-8-1 in 1973 when Gabriel faced 6-foot-1 Harold Carmichael, whose 67 balls led the league; 6-foot-4 tight end Charles Young, who was voted All-Pro as a rookie; and 6-foot-3 Don Zimmerman.
The receivers were referred to as the “Fire High Gang” because, as legend has it, one among them would say “Fire high, baby” when Gabriel called a pass play.
But Gabriel was still scuffling with injuries and the standard of his performance was declining. He retired after the 1977 season after rushing for 29,444 yards and 201 touchdowns in his profession.
He later was an expert football broadcaster, head coach at Cal Poly Pomona and coach within the United States Football League and the World League of American Football. He also served as president of two minor league baseball teams in North Carolina.
He also dabbled in acting. He played a headhunter in an episode of the sitcom “Gilligan's Island” and the adopted Indian son of a military colonel portrayed by John Wayne within the 1969 western “The Undefeated.”
In his later years, Gabriel ran a sports marketing company and raised significant donations for charities.
He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, but shouldn’t be yet within the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In addition to his son Roman III, Gabriel's survivors include three other sons: Ram Allen, Rory Jay and Brandon; and a daughter, Amber Smigel. He was married and divorced 3 times.
Gabriel took pride in taking turns with defensive players.
Marchibroda recalled that the Rams' offensive linemen got here as much as him during a game and said, “Tell Roman not to go after the linebackers when he's running with the football because we don't want him to get hurt.” “
He added that when he told Gabriel about their fears, Gabriel replied, “Coach, if I don't run into these guys, I'm not doing my best.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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