Kenny Stabler
Kenny Stabler may not have been a typical teen idol in the day, but he was a very special person for me. Ken “The Snake” Stabler was the quarterback for the Oakland Raiders in the 1970’s and was my sports hero. I even wrote a book report about him when I was in the 7th grade. That’s how special this man was to me.
It seems like I was born an Oakland Raiders fan. I’m not sure how that happened. I’m from a family of six. I had two brothers and three sisters. (FYI, we wanted the youngest to be a boy so that we could be like the Brady Bunch. Sister Lisa screwed it all up.) I don’t think any of my siblings were into sports. I don’t know who turned me on to football and the Oakland Raiders, but I know I loved me some Kenny Stabler.
Kenneth Michael Stabler was born on Christmas Day in 1945 in Foley, Alabama. (I didn’t have to look up the info for that statement.) Stabler played college ball for Bear Bryant at Alabama. He was chosen by the Raiders in the second round of the 1968 draft but also had offers from baseball teams due to his great pitching. The Yankees, Mets, and Astros were all interested in hiring my Kenny.
Ghost to the Post
The Oakland Raiders won their first Super Bowl with Kenny at the helm. They beat the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 in January 1977. That was exciting for me to watch, but my most exciting game came later that year. In the AFC playoff game against the Baltimore Colts on December 24, 1977, Stabler threw what was known as “Ghost to the Post” to Dave Casper. This game went into double overtime with The Raiders being victorious. I wish I was a better writer so that I could explain exactly how exciting this game was for me.
Currently, the Raiders are nearing the end of a dismal season and are 4-11. Yay. They supposedly just played their final game last night at the Oakland Coliseum. I don’t know about that. The Raiders left Oakland in the early 80’s to play in Los Angeles. They came back to Oakland in 1995. The Raiders are supposed to be the Las Vegas Raiders soon. We’ll see how long they stay in Vegas. They’ll always be my Oakland Raiders. And Kenny Stabler, who passed away in 2015, will forever be my sports hero.
Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or Hey. Thanks for reading. I’ll be back on New Year’s Day. Be safe. Be kind.