I've always thought that Stabler threw the prettiest passes of any QB I've ever seen. With no wind, his passes were always very tight spirals and no one ever had a better touch on the long ball. He was also nails under pressure and ran the 2 minute offense to perfection. It's criminal that he's not in the NFL Hall of Fame.
Who Do You Consider Bama's Most Under Rated QB Ever??
- Thread starter Alasippi
- Start date
Stabler would have been "the quintessential wishbone QB" he was an elusive runner, had nerves of steel, and as Tommy said threw a near perfect spiral.
I'll take that one farther. I don't think Stabler knew or knows the definition of the word "nerves"...lol
Coolest customer I've ever witnessed.
I was thinking about this the other day. Without Pittsburg's "Immaculate Reception" Stabler would most likely have quarterbacked two Super Bowl Champions instead of one, which would have made him a shoo in for the Hall. That one play certainly has had an effect on his life.
I agree though. It's totally beyond ridiculous that he's not in the Hall of Fame.
Coach Bryant used to say that if we had run a wishbone when Snake was there, no body could have touched him. Remember that as a Soph. he routinely when in as a DB on 3 and long. CPB also said that Namath would certainly have been the best safety he had ever coached but he was more valuable as a QB.
Ken Coley and Terry Davis were great "option" QBs, Walter Lewis was a great athlete playing QB; Todd and Jeff Rutledge were drop back QBs who were adequate as wishbone QBs. Rooster was a great field general. But, because that 79 team was so talented, Stedman gets consistently overlooked. He played his entire senior year on a very bad leg and his performance against LSU that year has to be one of the gutsiest performances by any Bama player.
In case you don't remember, we beat LSU 3-0 in Baton Rouge in a downpour. Lsu didn't have to worry about the passing agme because of the heavy rain, so they loaded the line, jammed the fullback and took away the pitchman. They punished him every play and he kept coming. We lost a couple of fumbles deep in their territory or the game wouldn't have been as close. He is cartainly underrated, cause he's never mentioned with the reverence that most fans have for Namath, Stabler, Trammel and Barker.
Ken Coley and Terry Davis were great "option" QBs, Walter Lewis was a great athlete playing QB; Todd and Jeff Rutledge were drop back QBs who were adequate as wishbone QBs. Rooster was a great field general. But, because that 79 team was so talented, Stedman gets consistently overlooked. He played his entire senior year on a very bad leg and his performance against LSU that year has to be one of the gutsiest performances by any Bama player.
In case you don't remember, we beat LSU 3-0 in Baton Rouge in a downpour. Lsu didn't have to worry about the passing agme because of the heavy rain, so they loaded the line, jammed the fullback and took away the pitchman. They punished him every play and he kept coming. We lost a couple of fumbles deep in their territory or the game wouldn't have been as close. He is cartainly underrated, cause he's never mentioned with the reverence that most fans have for Namath, Stabler, Trammel and Barker.
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Yes, and even in high school he had that brass-bound ego that a successful QB has to have just to survive. Kind of interesting that he was the biggest back in the Murphy High backfield in those days.
I had home room with him as a freshman, and he told me the first week of school that he was going to be the starting QB the next year. No lack of confidence there...:biggrin:
Awww gee, all Gilmer did was run the ball, pass, hand off, punt, and return punts and kick-offs. Don't you think you might be going a bit overboard? :cool2:
at 169 lbs, Gilmer wouldn't take near the number of hits that Tebow does. Folks tend to forget that kids are bigger, faster and stronger these days....no disrepect to Gilmer but he couldn't run what Tebow does these days.
I'm in the ad agency business on the coast and I met Bobby in the late 80's, early 90's when he was either sales manager or a sales rep for WKSJ-FM in Mobile, can't remember which. But I had two clients in Mobile at the time and he sold me an Alabama Football sponsorship for both of them. They both did pretty well off the advertising too.
I'll be honest though. When he told me he was Bear Bryant's first QB I thought to myself ...."Yeahhh right". Of course I didn't tell him that. But I honestly had no idea whatsoever until I checked it out, and sure nuff...he was.
So I definitely under rated him. To be the Bears first QB he had to be a pretty tough dude. I don't even know if he's still with us but I hope so.
I agree with the difference in generations. I won't say "no comparison", simply that they can't be compared.
But I'll say this.
After the intensity and effort that Tebow and Florida exhibited last year to come back from the Ole Miss loss and win the National Title, I simply don't think they'll be able to repeat it. I think they'll lose two games at least, one in the regular season, and one to us.
Comparing teams and individual players across the generations is frustrating at best, it simply cannot be done.
Bobby Jackson was a big guy, except for his calves, which were disproportionately skinny. On the Sunday replays, I can still remember when BJ would rip off a long gain around end on a keeper, and Coach would chuckle and say something about his "skinny-legged quarterback."
I'd forgotten all about that Earle, but you're right on both points. Coincidentally, I believe that, Phil Savage Jr.'s dad was a very good lineman on a couple of those Murphy teams that Jackson QB'd.
There's a pic of BJ in the '58 Corolla which illustrates what I'm talking about. I'll try to scan it and post in the old pix thread. And, Lance, Skelton started the current skein of being the fans' favorite - the backup QB. He was overshadowed by Trammel, whom Coach Bryant loved. He had amazing hand and body fakes and was a better passer than Trammel. Trammel, however, just refused to lose. Skelton had a long and successful career as a NFL ref. I remember one tale he used to tell about standing by the pileup of the six guys it took to take down Walter Payton. He felt something odd, and looked down to see a pair of hands snaking out from under the pile and that his shoes were being untied by Payton...
Yep . My dad and Bobby knew eachother for years . I doubt I've seen him in 5-6 years but back in the 90's we often sat with same "after 5 crew" during his off-season and he has some great ones from both Bama and officiating . It's too bad most of them aren't postable :redface:
Do you know the one about Coach Bryant putting him in a game late and he either fumbled the snap or ran the wrong way/play ? He says everybody at the game saw Coach seemingly telling Skelton in a calm manner that everything was alright and he'd do better next time but , that was no part of what was really said to him
I agree wholeheartedly with this post. Since the question was "Who do you consider Bama's most Under Rated QB" -- not the most talented, or the one with the strongest arm, or the best QB, but the most under rated -- then Sheely has to be near the top of the list. He was smart, managed the game very well, rarely made mistakes, and was tough as nails. Also, If memory serves me correctly he led us to two NCs and yet he's virtually never mentioned. Definitely one of the most under rated QBs in Bama's history.
I don't think that Gilmer qualifies as being underrated. He was the #1 pick in the NFL draft.
And I also think that Jay Barker is one of the best QBs to ever play for Bama, and he is recognized as such. He may not have had the best stats, but I don't know if any QB at Alabama was either more clutch or had stronger leadership qualities. He lost only one game by one point at Alabama that he both started and finished. And it wasn't his fault that Alabama didn't try for the 2 point conversion in the game that he lost.
And I also think that Jay Barker is one of the best QBs to ever play for Bama, and he is recognized as such. He may not have had the best stats, but I don't know if any QB at Alabama was either more clutch or had stronger leadership qualities. He lost only one game by one point at Alabama that he both started and finished. And it wasn't his fault that Alabama didn't try for the 2 point conversion in the game that he lost.
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