Age: 29
8th season in pro football & with Rams
College: North Carolina State
Height: 6’4” Weight: 220
Prelude:
Taken in the first round of the 1962 NFL draft, Gabriel was one of the biggest quarterbacks of his era and proved to be tough with an accurate throwing arm. However, he had to vie for playing time against, first, veteran Zeke Bratkowski and, later, a young challenger in Bill Munson. The arrival of George Allen as head coach in 1966 brought stability and success. Operating in a conservative offense, Gabriel passed for a career-high 25 TDs in 1967 as the team went 11-1-2 and made it to the postseason for the first time since 1955. He was selected to the Pro Bowl following both the 1967 and ’68 seasons.
1969 Season Summary
Appeared and started in all 14 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 399 [3]
Most attempts, game – 40 at San Francisco 10/12
Completions – 217 [3]
Most completions, game – 21 vs. Minnesota 12/7
Yards – 2549 [6]
Most yards, game – 319 vs. San Francisco 11/9
Completion percentage – 54.4 [5]
Yards per attempt – 6.4 [14]
TD passes – 24 [1]
Most TD passes, game – 4 vs. New Orleans 10/5
Interceptions – 7 [20, tied with Earl Morrall]
Most interceptions, game – 2 vs. Dallas 11/23, at Detroit 12/14
Passer rating – 86.8 [3]
300-yard passing games – 1
200-yard passing games – 5
Rushing
Attempts – 35
Most attempts, game – 6 (for 20 yds.) vs. Dallas 11/23
Yards – 156
Most yards, game – 36 yards (on 4 carries) at Philadelphia 11/16
Yards per attempt – 4.5
TDs – 5
Scoring
TDs – 5
Points – 30
Postseason: 1 G (Western Conf. Championship at Minnesota)
Pass attempts – 32
Pass completions – 22
Passing yardage – 150
TD passes – 2
Interceptions – 1
Rushing attempts – 4
Rushing yards – 26
Average gain rushing – 6.5
Rushing TDs – 0
Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: AP, UPI, NEA, Bert Bell Award, Sporting News
1st team All-NFL: Hall of Fame, AP, NEA, NY Daily News, Pro Football Weekly, Sporting News
2nd team All-NFL: PFWA, UPI
Pro Bowl
Rams went 11-3 to finish first in the Coastal Division of the Western Conference. Lost Western Conference Championship to Minnesota Vikings (23-20).
Aftermath:
Gabriel led the NFL with 407 pass attempts in 1970 as the Rams went 9-4-1, although they failed to make the playoffs. With the departure of Allen, the team stumbled further in 1971 and ’72 and Gabriel showed signs of being on the downside of his career. Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, he staged a comeback in 1973 as he led the NFL in pass attempts (460), completions (270), yards (3219), and TD passes (23) and was selected to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time. But injuries and ineffectiveness hindered his performance in his final four seasons, the last two of which were largely spent as a backup. Gabriel passed for 29,444 yards with 201 TDs and 149 interceptions – at the time, his percentage of INTs thrown (3.3) ranked lowest all-time in the NFL for a passer with at least 1500 attempts.
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MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).
[Updated 2/11/14]