When Roman Gabriel was with the Los Angeles Rams, a strong performance versus the St. Louis Cardinals helped him emerge as a No. 1 quarterback. Later, when Gabriel went to the Eagles, he led them to a stirring comeback against the Cardinals for his first win with Philadelphia, then never beat them again.
In 12 games, including 10 starts, versus the Cardinals, Gabriel won four, lost eight. Seven of those defeats came when he was with the Eagles.
Gabriel won a NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1969 but never played for a NFL champion.
Potent passer
Roman Gabriel’s father came to the United States from the Philippines and settled in Wilmington, N.C., working in a dining car for a railroad.
As a youth, Gabriel had a severe case of asthma. “I remember having to stop to sit on a curb so I could catch my breath on my way to school,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Gabriel attended New Hanover High School, alma mater of NFL quarterback Sonny Jurgensen, and was one of the best prep basketball centers in the state. He joined the football team his senior year. With a strong arm, size and athleticism, he was a natural. “He can throw the pigskin a country mile,” the Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record observed.
Playing college football at North Carolina State, Gabriel became the first Atlantic Coast Conference quarterback to throw for 1,000 yards in a season. At 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, the Post-Dispatch noted, “He can peer over the tops of defensive linemen. He can stand resolute in the midst of a ferocious rush. He once demonstrated for onlookers that he could toss a football 85 yards in the air.”
Pro scouts were dazzled. The Oakland Raiders made Gabriel the No. 1 overall pick in the 1962 AFL draft. The Rams, with the second and third choices in the first round of the 1962 NFL draft, chose Gabriel and Utah State defensive tackle Merlin Olsen, and signed both.
Tinsel Town
A football player named Roman Gabriel seemed ideal for a team that played its games at the Coliseum in the City of Angels.
The strapping quarterback also had a look tailored for Hollywood. “This is quite a chunk of manhood,” New Yok Times columnist Arthur Daley wrote. “Gabriel is a bronzed giant with high cheek bones.”
Temptations were abundant. Reflecting on his early years with the Rams, Gabriel said to the New York Times, “I came from a small city in North Carolina, Wilmington, and Los Angeles was a lot for me to swallow. For a few years, I was pretty wild, out every night and waking up in a different place every morning. I finally realized that kind of life wasn’t getting me anywhere.”
Gabriel initially did more playing off the field than he did on it. Zeke Bratkowski was the Rams’ quarterback in 1962 and 1963, with Gabriel being given starts in the back ends of those losing seasons. Injured at the beginning of the 1964 season, Gabriel watched as rookie Bill Munson started at quarterback.
The Rams, though, remained intrigued by Gabriel’s potential.
“Gabriel is a cinch to be the next superstar at quarterback,” Rams head coach Harland Svare told the New York Times in 1964. “He’ll be making headlines long after Y.A. Tittle and Johnny Unitas have departed. No quarterback in the history of the league is as strong as Gabriel. One day, Gino Marchetti, the toughest defensive end in the business, had him apparently pinned against the sidelines. Gabriel merely reached out and pushed Marchetti’s face into the dirt. Then he made the throw.”
Nonetheless, when the 1965 season opened, Gabriel was the backup to Munson. As Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray noted, “Gabriel has been a Ram for four years. Most of that time he has been just another spectator.”
Job won
On Nov. 21, 1965, Munson tore up his right knee in a game against the San Francisco 49ers and the Rams’ season record fell to 1-9. Gabriel took over and led them to consecutive victories against the Green Bay Packers (their last loss in a NFL title season), St. Louis Cardinals and Cleveland Browns.
In the Rams’ 27-3 victory over the Cardinals, Gabriel threw two touchdown passes, completed 55 percent of his throws and wasn’t intercepted. One of the scoring passes, 59 yards to tight end Billy Truax, came on third down-and-17 as the Cardinals blitzed two linebackers and a safety.
“Gabriel, unlike any other quarterback, is as strong as the men who were coming at him,” The Sporting News noted. “He strode around in the heavy traffic as Truax ran his pattern. Then, as the Cardinals hacked at him like small boys with a toy hatchet, the tallest quarterback threw a straight dart for the touchdown.”
The Los Angeles Times concluded, “The Rams again benefited from inspired leadership as Gabriel kept the team on the move at all times.” Game stats
The next week, Gabriel threw five touchdown passes against the reigning NFL champion Browns. Game stats
Those performances got the attention of George Allen, who became Rams head coach in 1966. He named Gabriel the starter. “I was determined not to have this Bill Munson-Roman Gabriel wish-wash,” Allen told the Raleigh (N.C.) News and Observer. “I wanted one quarterback. Gabriel was the man.”
Missing link
Before Allen arrived, the Rams hadn’t had a winning season since 1958. With Gabriel as his quarterback, Allen led the Rams to winning records in each of his five seasons with them. In 1967, the Rams were the NFL’s highest-scoring team. Two years later, Gabriel led the league in touchdown tosses (24). “For sheer arm, he is the Sandy Koufax of the NFL,” Jim Murray wrote.
Rams receiver Jack Snow told the Raleigh News and Observer in 1969, “(Gabriel) is the best in the league. I don’t think anyone else could lead the Los Angeles Rams. He is smart, respected and there never has been any questions about his ability. When he steps in the huddle, he’s the boss. The whole team has complete confidence in his ability.”
The hurdle Gabriel couldn’t overcome was the postseason. He got the Rams into two playoff games and lost both. The biggest letdown was in 1969, when the Rams were 11-0, then lost four in a row, including a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. “I was crushed, beyond consolation, and I cried,” Gabriel told the Post-Dispatch. “I’d done some good things, but I hadn’t done enough, so I’d let the team down. I felt an awful emptiness.”
Lights, cameras
During timeouts from football, Gabriel tried acting in TV shows and movies. His TV appearances included episodes of “Perry Mason,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “Ironside” and “Wonder Woman.” He showed up in the role of a prison guard in a 1968 movie comedy, “Skidoo,” directed by Otto Preminger and starring Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing.
Gabriel’s biggest movie role was in the 1969 western, “The Undefeated,” starring John Wayne and Rock Hudson. Gabriel’s Rams teammate, Merlin Olsen, also had a part. Gabriel was cast as Blue Boy, an adopted Cherokee Indian son of Wayne’s character. As critic Roger Ebert noted, “Gabriel looks about as Indian as one of the Beach Boys.”
According to Internet Movie Database (IMDb), Rock Hudson said in a 1980 interview he thought the movie was “crap” but he had fond memories of the filming because he became a close friend of John Wayne and Roman Gabriel. Movie trailer
Gabriel said to the Raleigh News and Observer in 1969, “I like acting, and there’s nothing like starting with a winner like John Wayne. I hope some of his winning style rubbed off on me.”
Bad ending
Injuries hampered Gabriel’s playing days with the Rams in 1971 (knee and elbow surgeries) and 1972 (a collapsed lung and tendinitis in his throwing arm). With Tommy Prothro as head coach, the 1972 Rams had a losing season. Disenchanted, Gabriel lashed out, implying the Rams were a selfish group.
“He made some statements that were detrimental to the team,” Rams center Ken Iman said to The Sporting News.
Receiver Jack Snow told columnist Bob Oates that Gabriel didn’t speak to teammates the last two weeks of the season. “Several members of the team, including myself, tolerated him the last half of the season,” Snow said. “I didn’t look up to him. I didn’t respect him.”
In January 1973, after the Rams acquired quarterback John Hadl from the San Diego Chargers, Gabriel demanded a trade. The Rams obliged, sending him to the Eagles in June 1973 for receiver Harold Jackson, running back Tony Baker and three draft choices.
Eagles win
Winless in his first four games with the Eagles, Gabriel faced the Cardinals at St. Louis on Oct. 14, 1973. The Cardinals led, 24-13, in the fourth quarter, but Gabriel threw two touchdown passes in the final two minutes, giving the Eagles a 27-24 victory. The winning touchdown came on a 24-yard pass to receiver Don Zimmerman as time expired.
In the huddle, Gabriel had asked Zimmerman, a rookie making his first NFL start, “Can you get open?” Zimmerman replied, “I think so.”
“OK,” said Gabriel. “I’m coming to you.”
Gabriel called the play: 93 double arrow. “The pattern called for both wide receivers (Harold Carmichael and Zimmerman) to run deep posts,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. “As Gabriel dropped back, he looked toward Carmichael, freezing safety Clarence Duren. Zimmerman loped down the left sideline, then cut sharply toward the goal post.”
Zimmerman caught a strike from Gabriel and was hit by both Duren and safety Jim Tolbert. Then cornerback Roger Wehrli hit Zimmerman from behind, but Zimmerman continued into the end zone. Game stats Video at 7:46
Gabriel went on to have a spectacular first season with the Eagles, leading the NFL in completions (270), passing yards (3,219) and touchdown throws (23).
Stupid gesture
In 1974, NFL players went on strike, refusing to report to training camps. The NFL ordered teams to keep the camps open, planning to operate with rookies and free agents. Gabriel, 34, decided to defy the union and cross the Eagles’ picket line.
As a busload of rookies, free agents and Gabriel arrived at camp, “Gabriel was jeered by the same players who had held him in reverence the previous season,” the Philadelphia Daily News reported. “Impulsively, Gabriel reacted by closing his hand at the bus window and extending his middle finger.”
Among the players outside Gabriel’s window were the entire Eagles offensive line.
“I believe Roman Gabriel lost the team when he crossed the picket line,” Eagles running back Po James told the Philadelphia Daily News.
In a 13-3 loss to the 1974 Cardinals, Gabriel was sacked nine times. Game stats
“No one ever suggested that the offensive linemen quit on Gabriel in 1974, but the gung-ho streak that used to sustain their blocking against physically superior defenses was no longer in evidence,” Jack McKinney noted in the Philadelphia Daily News.
Two years later, when Dick Vermeil became head coach of the 1976 Eagles, Mike Boryla replaced Gabriel as the starter. Gabriel spent his final season, 1977, as a backup to Ron Jaworski.
After his playing career, Gabriel worked in several jobs, including three years as head football coach at Cal Poly Pomona (8-24 record), a 1980s stint as president of the Charlotte Knights minor-league baseball team, and a stretch as radio broadcaster for the NFL Carolina Panthers (1995-2001).
Gabriel remains the Rams franchise leader in career touchdown passes (154) and most games played at quarterback (130).
RetroSimba 
I grew up in Cape Girardeau. Mo. and Ken Iman and John Wittenborn lived next door to each other on Perryville Rd on my father’s mail route. He delivered the letter from the Packers that he had been traded to the Rams. Both Ken and John were usually standing by their mailboxes each day. Both of them were really nice gentleman and remember Kenny hoisting me up upon his shoulders while both attended a chili supper at our church in Cape Girardeau around the year 1964. Great memories.
Thank you for reading and for sharing with us your personal insights about Ken Iman and John Wittenborn.
For those readers unfamiliar with those players, John Wittenborn was an offensive guard and placekicker who played for the 49ers, Eagles and Oilers from 1958-68. He was a member of the Eagles squad that won the 1960 NFL championship.
Ken Iman was a center who played in the NFL from 1960 to 1974 for the Packers and Rams. He was a member of two NFL championship clubs _ the 1961 Packers and 1962 Packers. He was traded from the Packers to the Rams for quarterback Zeke Bratkowski.
I didn’t know about Roman Gabriel crossing the picket line during the 1974 NFL player strike. That probably didn’t sit to well with his teammates. Right or wrong though, Roman Gabriel was never afraid to do his own thing. He was a truly good quarterback before the injuries and age began to take their toll. I would have never guessed that he’s still the Rams all time leader in touchdown passes. Had the NFL allowed wildcard teams into the playoffs during the 60’s Roman Gabriel probably would have had the Rams in there every year. I still remember some of the games between the Don Coryell Cardinals and the Eagles. Even though the Cardiac Cards always found a way to win they were always nailbiters to the very end.
I, too, was surprised that Roman Gabriel remains the Rams franchise leader in career touchdown passes. After Gabriel (154) are Jim Everett (142), Marc Bulger (122) and Norm Van Brocklin (118).
Your are correct, Phillip, about the Don Coryell Cardinals having nail-biters versus the Eagles. An example is the 1974 season opener at St. Louis. With the Cardinals ahead, 7-3, the Eagles had first-and-goal from the St. Louis 9-yard line with 27 seconds left in the game. “I didn’t have any doubt at that point,” Gabriel told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There was no reason to believe we couldn’t go in.”
Instead, Gabriel threw four incompletions and the Cardinals held on for the win. The final pass was to Harold Carmichael on a quick post pattern. Defensive back Norm Thompson deflected the ball. “It wobbled, hung tantalizingly and teasingly in the air for a second but was too far away for Carmichael’s desperate, lunging grasp,” Bill Lyon wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Here are the game stats: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/197409150crd.htm
I really enjoyed this one, Mark. I have a Roman Gabriel card that a certain someone gave me sitting on my desk next to my pencil box. He was my dad’s favorite player so it’s fitting since I lost them both this year and makes me feel a little more at peace when I see it.
The Rams had a helluva 1962 draft taking a HOF player and someone who damn well should be in the HOF. Gabriel was Ben Rothlisberger about 40 years ahead of his time. I fear that not winning a SB may have ruined his chances as being talked about as one of the all time greats.
What a gem. I have a sneaking suspicion that this may be the most comprehensive piece about Gabriel on the internet. You never cease to amaze me.
Thanks for sharing the connection between your dad and Roman Gabriel, Gary. I can relate. My father’s favorite athlete was Arnold Palmer. They both died within a couple weeks of one another in 2016. It made me feel like an entire era had suddenly vanished and left an irreplaceable void.
You are right about that 1962 draft for the Rams being quite special. The Rams got that additional pick in the first round from their earlier trade of Del Shofner to the Giants.
I like your comparison of Roman Gabriel with Ben Roethlisberger. That hadn’t occurred to me, but it fits: Two linebacker-sized quarterbacks who could fling it.
I’m so glad that you liked this piece, knowing Roman Gabriel’s significance to you.
Saw Roman play a few times in person as an Eagle. Did not know he was still the Rams’ franchise leader in TD’s and games. Solid QB.
How terrific that you got to see Roman Gabriel play, Bruce. On Nov, 28, 1975, after Gabriel lost the Eagles’ starting job to Mike Boryla, Gordon Forbes of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “I don’t like to see Roman Gabriel being cast in the role of a scapegoat on a team infiltrated by malingerers and marginal players.”
With the Rams, Gabriel made four starts against the Eagles and won them all.
Mark – curious to know which WP theme you are using. I need to update mine to one that is still supported. I currently am using what WP calls a legacy theme, and some of my features no longer function.
I use an old basic WordPress theme called MistyLook.
I haven’t been a football fan since the 80’s, since the Air Coryell Dan Fouts Chargers so I enjoy these posts, to learn so much and as a side note, I remember the LA Rams in the movie Heaven Can Wait and I enjoyed that movie a lot. It’s interesting to hear about players from small towns that make it in the pros and live in big cities with so much temptations and how they adjust and ideally have a successful career and it sounds like Roman Gabriel did.
1978’s “Heaven Can Wait,” starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie, had in its cast former NFL players such as Marv Fleming, Deacon Jones, Les Josephson and Jack Snow, plus sports broadcasters Dick Enberg, Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis. According to International Movie Data Base, the movie’s fictitious Super Bowl game (Rams vs. Steelers) was filmed during halftime of the Rams vs. Chargers exhibition game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on September 1, 1977.
Devastated! I just found out that Coach Gabriel passed away back in April of this year. He was my quarterback coach in 1978-1979 at College of The Desert and in 1979 we were Desert Conference Champions. I was back up to his son, Robin Gabriel both seasons. He was a big man standing 6’5″ and weighing 220lbs. Just his presents alone demanded respect and he got it! We became best of friends and I played golf in all of his tournaments. Roman was a great man and an inspiration to all of us at College of The Desert. One day after practice I asked him to throw the football to see if he could throw the ball 100 yards. He took one step off the goal line and threw that football just short of the goal line on the other side of the field. He was always a gentleman, kind, generous and my hero! I will miss you Coach Gabriel and I thank you for making me the man I am today! Guy Manning, J.D.
Thank you, Guy, for sharing with us your memories of Roman Gabriel. You honored him well. How fortunate that you got to play for him and become his friend.
There is only ONE HARD/FAST RULE IN LIFE.
NEVER/EVER “cross a picket line.”
A very bad mistake on the part of Roman GABRIEL.
HE should have known that when he crossed
That LINE that he destroyed his status and reputation
with his fellow players, his own peer group.
Just a bonehead mistake that he should have
known better than to pull on himself and
the men he played football with.
Just bad karma. Bad “Ju-Ju” all the way.
Craig Mullen
Thanks for reading and for commenting.