Roman Gabriel, former NC State star and Hall of Famer, passes away at 83

Saturday Down South ^ | 4/20/24 | Paul Harvey

[Libloather]

Roman Gabriel, a former NC State star from the 1960s, passed away Saturday at 83-years-old. Gabriel was an inaugural member of the NC State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2012, and he was inducted into the College Football HOF in 1989.

Gabriel delivered back-to-back ACC Player of the Year awards during his time with the Wolfpack in 1960 and 1961. While at NC State, he set 22 total school records and 9 ACC records while becoming the first ACC quarterback with over 1,000 passing yards in a season.

Gabriel was a 2-time All-American and became a top-5 pick in both the AFL and NFL drafts. He was the No. 1 pick in the AFL draft and the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft before playing 16 seasons in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles.

[Dr. Sivana]

Unitas was 60’s.

Gabriel was '60s.

[DIRTYSECRET]

You are right. He was 29 in ‘69. Those were the most productive years for most QB’s when you add experience.

As for Craig Morton DFW was right too. Morton played against Dallas in the SB as a member of the Broncos. He was not very mobile. Denver’s weakest position was OL and the Dallas DL was it’s most potent group. It was sad to see Morton look so helpless.

[dfwgator]

Morton blew SB V. If Landry put Staubach in that game Dallas would have won.

[Dr. Sivana]

He was not very mobile. Denver’s weakest position was OL and the Dallas DL was it’s most potent group. It was sad to see Morton look so helpless.

I lived in Connecticut, so I saw some Craig Morton with the Giants, and mostly heard my father complain about him. If you think he looked bad on the Broncos, imagine him behind the worst O-Line in football. When they eventually moved on to Joe Pisarcik (of the 40% completion and "THE Fumble" infamy) it was still an upgrade because Pisarcik was tough, and HIS backup, Randy Dean, was mobile. Those AWFUL football Giants had NO offensive line. Defense was okay.