28 Facts About Roman Gabriel

Roman Gabriel played college football for the NC State Wolfpack, twice earning first-team All-American honors.

Roman Gabriel was notable for being the first NFL quarterback of Filipino-American descent, as well as winning the NFL Most Valuable Player award in 1969.

Roman Gabriel grew up poor and suffered from asthma, but he played high school football at New Hanover High School, where he graduated in 1958.

Roman Gabriel went on to star as quarterback at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

An academic All-American, Roman Gabriel saw his jersey retired after his senior season and then presented to him by North Carolina governor Terry Sanford on January 20,1962, at halftime of an NC State-Maryland basketball game in Reynolds Coliseum.

The Atlantic Coast Conference's 50th Anniversary Football Team was announced in 2003 and Roman Gabriel was among the top 50 players in the history of the ACC to be listed.

Roman Gabriel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Roman Gabriel was the number one 1962 AFL draft pick, chosen by the Oakland Raiders, and he was the second overall pick of the 1962 NFL draft, as selected by the Los Angeles Rams.

Roman Gabriel signed with the Rams and went on to a distinguished professional career.

Roman Gabriel wore the number 18 with the Rams and the number 5 with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Roman Gabriel played 16 seasons in the NFL, splitting time with the Los Angeles Rams from 1962 to 1972 and then the Philadelphia Eagles from 1973 to 1977.

Roman Gabriel was awarded the NFL Most Valuable Player Award in 1969 and earned Pro Bowl spots in 1967,1968,1969, and 1973.

From 1962 through 1965, Roman Gabriel had a difficult time securing a starting quarterback job.

However, due to other quarterbacks slumping or being injured, Roman Gabriel did get to start 23 games from 1962 through 1965.

When George Allen took over for Harland Svare to coach the Rams in 1966, one of his first moves was to try and convince Roman Gabriel to stay with the Rams, as Roman Gabriel had signed the deal that would make him a Raider.

Roman Gabriel then told him to send the bonus check back to the Raiders, which he decided to do with no lasting regret.

Roman Gabriel was named the AP Offensive Player of the Week the last two weeks of the season.

Roman Gabriel threw for 2,779 yards and 25 touchdowns and was a second-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler.

In 1971, the veteran Rams began to show their age and Roman Gabriel missed parts of every game due to knee and shoulder injuries.

On June 8,1973, after he threatened to accept a $100,000 contract with the Las Vegas Casinos of the Southwestern Football League in April 1973, Roman Gabriel was traded from the Rams to the Philadelphia Eagles for Harold Jackson, Tony Baker, a 1974 first-round selection, and first- and third-round picks in 1975.

Roman Gabriel was voted to the Pro Bowl for the fourth time and was voted the "Comeback Player of the Year" by Pro Football Weekly.

Roman Gabriel played through 1977 but his final two years were in a backup role.

Roman Gabriel is the only quarterback from his era to still rank high in the "lowest interception percentage" category in NFL passing statistics.

Roman Gabriel had a career as a broadcast color commentator, calling games on CBS television from 1978 to 1979, on CBS Radio in the 1980s and on Carolina Panthers radio from 1995 to 2001.

Roman Gabriel was a frequent guest on television talk shows of the era, including The Merv Griffin Show, The Virginia Graham Show, The Rosey Grier Show, and The Joey Bishop Show.

Roman Gabriel had a brief film career, playing a prison guard in Otto Preminger's 1968 spoof Skidoo and a Native American named "Blue Boy" in the 1969 John Wayne and Rock Hudson film The Undefeated.

Roman Gabriel had previously appeared as a headhunter in the November 14,1966, "Topsy-Turvey" episode of CBS' Gilligan's Island.

Roman Gabriel was on a 1978 episode of Wonder Woman, "The Deadly Sting".