Roman Gabriel, a former quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams — from the team’s initial stint in the city — died Saturday at age 83.
Gabriel’s death at his home in Little River, S.C. was confirmed by his son, Roman Gabriel III, according to multiple reports. A cause was not specified.
The Oakland Raiders of the now-defunct American Football League drafted Gabriel with the first pick overall in 1962. However, the startup league, which would merge a handful of years later with the National Football League, was only in its third year and trying to compete for talent with the more entrenched league. The Rams made Gabriel the second selection of the NFL draft and signed him.
Gabriel played 11 seasons with the team, where he earned three Pro Bowl nods as well as an MVP in 1969, when he led the league with 24 touchdown passes. The following year, the NFL and the AFL would merge.
In 1973, Rams head coach George Allen — who had given Gabriel the starting role at quarterback seven years earlier — was replaced by Chuck Knox, and the team acquired John Hadl from the San Diego Chargers, with the intention of making him their number-one quarterback. Gabriel requested a trade and was shipped off to a struggling Philadelphia team, where he would spend his final five seasons.
In his first year with the Eagles, Gabriel was voted Comeback Player of the Year by sports writers after he tied for the league-lead in touchdown passes, and led in passing yards and completions.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl once with his new team before retiring after the 1977 season, having accumulated 29,444 yards passing and 201 touchdowns.
After his playing days were over, Gabriel went into broadcasting. He also coached at Cal Poly Pomona, from 1980-82, and later in the United States Football League and the World League of American Football. He also served as president of a pair of minor league baseball teams, according to The New York Times.
During his career, Gabriel’s Rams reached the playoffs twice and were promptly eliminated in the first round each time.
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr., was born Aug. 5, 1940 in Wilmington, N.C. to a Filipino father, Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Sr., and an Irish American mother, Edna Mae Wyatt.
Gabriel was a three-sport star in high school, also excelling in basketball and baseball. According to The Times, he was offered a contract by the New York Yankees, which he turned down to attend college at North Carolina State, where he played from 1959-61, earning All-America honors twice. In 1989, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
Gabriel is remembered for his imposing stature of that era. His height is listed, depending on the source, as in the neighborhood of 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-4, and his weight somewhere 220 and 235 pounds — more of a linebacker’s build at that time — and possessing a cannon arm. He is also representative of a more violent era of the sport, in which players lacked the safety protections adopted in more recent years with rule changes — particularly with regard to quarterbacks, a position of heightened vulnerability — as well as field and equipment improvements and major advancements in sports medicine and training/recovery innovations. As a result, his career was marred by injuries.
In addition to his son Roman III, Gabriel is survived by three other sons — Ram Allen, Rory Jay and Brandon — and a daughter, Amber Smigel. He was married and divorced three times, The Times reported.