Roman Gabriel, legendary Rams QB and former NFL MVP, dead at 83

[BeyondGeography]

Roman Gabriel had big size and a big arm when he was the No. 2 draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1962. Even while playing in an era of grinding it out on the ground, he still holds the Rams’ team record with 154 touchdown passes.

Gabriel, the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL and the league MVP in 1969, died Saturday. He was 83. His son, Roman Gabriel III, announced his father’s death on social media, saying he died peacefully at home of natural causes.

…Gabriel, who played at North Carolina State and was a two-time player of the year in the Atlantic Coast Conference, was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989. He was 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, big for a quarterback in that era. Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi once described him as “a big telephone pole,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

…Gabriel was such a hot prospect that the Rams made him the No. 2 pick in the NFL draft, and the Oakland Raiders of the rival AFL selected him No. 1. Gabriel wound up signing with the Rams, though it took until George Allen was hired as coach in 1966 for Gabriel to start leaving a mark. From 1967 to 1970, Gabriel led the Rams to a 41-14-4 record and two division titles, though never a playoff game. He was voted MVP in 1969 after throwing for 2,549 yards with 24 touchdown passes and five rushing scores.

https://nypost.com/2024/04/21/sports/roman-gabriel-former-rams-and-eagles-qb-dead-at-83/

[ChazII]

1. He was the quarterback for the Rams

when I first started watching football.

[BeyondGeography]

4. One of my first NFL memories was a Packers/Rams game in LA

It was a regular season game in December of 1967 and I was watching from dark and cold NY. It was impossibly sunny in LA and they had a quarterback with the impossibly cool name of Roman Gabriel who looked as big or bigger than most of the defenders.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Sad....

I grew up on the East Coast watching the CBS NFL late game. Seemed to always be the Rams. Gabriel was the 1st QB I really took an interest in. He was one of the 1st QBs that was tall and had a big arm.

[Botany]

3. The fearsome foursome, the Purple People Eaters, Fran, and Roman

I was but a child.

[Silent Type]

5. Lived in Raleigh when Gabriel was at NC State. Our peewee football team played just before a State game, and

I got to stand next to him as a 9 year old. He was tall.

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. Around Hillsborough St., that name is Legend.

I was born right after he graduated. Being a lifelong Wolfpack fan, it is a name that invokes great memories.

[GreenWave]

7. Hollywood had a couple of decades of films about the Romans.

Then he comes along in LA. You just can't write a script like that,