1977 #1 Topps NFL Passing Leaders Ken Stabler Raiders Harris Rams

Description: This 1977 Topps Trading Card #1 1976 NFL Passing Leaders Stabler & Harris is the exact item you will receive and has been certified Authentic by REM Fine Collectibles. Kenneth Michael Stabler (December 25, 1945 – July 8, 2015) was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "Snake", he played college football at Alabama and was selected by the Raiders in the second round of the 1968 NFL Draft. During his 10 seasons in Oakland, Stabler received four Pro Bowl selections and was named Most Valuable Player in 1974. Stabler also helped the Raiders win their first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl XI. He was posthumously inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. James Larnell Harris (born July 20, 1947) is an American former professional football player and executive. He played as a quarterback in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) with the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and San Diego Chargers. He was later a personnel executive for the Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions. Harris is the inspiration for the song "Ramblin' Man From Gramblin'" composed by Sam Spence. He is nicknamed "Shack", which is short for Meshach, given to him by his Baptist minister father. Harris played college football for the Grambling State University Tigers from 1965 to 1968. Under the guidance of head coach Eddie Robinson, Grambling won or shared all four Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) titles while Harris was a player and he was named MVP of the 1967 Orange Blossom Classic. Harris was specifically trained as a prototypical pocket-passer by Robinson and broke numerous passing records at Grambling. Stabler became a highly touted football player at Foley High School in Foley, Alabama. He led Foley to a win–loss record of 29–1 over his high school football career—the only loss coming against Vigor High School. He was an all-around athlete in high school, averaging 29 points a game in basketball and excelling enough as a left-handed pitcher in baseball to receive minor-league contract offers from the Houston Astros and New York Yankees. He was an all-American athlete. During his high school career, he earned his nickname "Snake" from his coach following a long, winding touchdown run. Stabler was recruited by head coach Bear Bryant at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Due to NCAA regulations at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play on the varsity in the University Division. Stabler was on the freshman team in 1964, when the Crimson Tide won the National Championship with quarterbacks Joe Namath and Steve Sloan. Despite being named National Champions, Alabama lost their bowl game, falling to the Texas Longhorns in the 1965 Orange Bowl. As a sophomore in 1965, Stabler was used sparingly as a back-up to Sloan at quarterback, following Namath's departure to the AFL. That year, the Crimson Tide won their second consecutive National Championship, finishing the season with a record of 9–1–1. The team defeated the Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Orange Bowl, 39–28. As a junior in 1966, he took over the starting quarterback position. He led the team to an undefeated, 11–0 season which ended in a 34–7 rout of Nebraska in the Sugar Bowl. Despite the unblemished record, Alabama was snubbed by the polls, finishing third behind Notre Dame and Michigan State, neither of which played in a bowl. Expectations were high in Stabler's senior season, though those expectations would not be completely fulfilled. The offense often struggled in 1967, and the defense's performance slipped. During the season, Bryant kicked Stabler off the team for cutting class and partying, though he was given a second chance. The Tide finished with an 8–2–1 record, including a loss to rival Tennessee. Though the season was lackluster, Stabler would provide a memorable moment in the Iron Bowl. Trailing 3–0 in a game drenched by rain, Stabler scampered through the mud for a 47-yard, game-winning touchdown which gave the Tide a 7–3 victory over rival Auburn at Legion Field. The play is commonly referred to as the "Run in the Mud" in Alabama football lore. Stabler was selected in the second round of the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Oakland Raiders, the reigning AFL champions. He was the fifth quarterback taken, after Greg Landry, Eldridge Dickey, Heisman Trophy winner Gary Beban, and Mike Livingston. He was also drafted to play baseball by the New York Yankees in 1966, the New York Mets in 1967, and the Houston Astros in 1968. Harris was drafted in the eighth round of the 1969 Common Draft by the American Football League's Buffalo Bills, and would soon join fellow rookie O. J. Simpson in the starting backfield. Continuing the American Football League's more liberal (than the NFL's) personnel policies,[citation needed] the Bills made Harris the first black player to start a season at quarterback in the history of pro football. Harris was also just the second black player in the modern era to start in any game as quarterback for a professional football team. After three years with the Bills, Harris was released by the team and signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 1972. In 1973, Harris was the understudy to veteran John Hadl as the Rams went 12-2 and returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1969. As the 1974 season began, the Rams offense sputtered under Hadl and the team stood at 3-2 after five games. In an effort to spark the Los Angeles offense, Rams head coach Chuck Knox promoted Harris as the starting quarterback. In his starting debut for the Rams against the San Francisco 49ers, Harris completed 12 of 15 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another as the Rams won easily, 37-14, at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The performance earned Harris a perfect passer rating for the game. Two days later, Hadl was then traded to Green Bay, and Harris became the Rams' first-string quarterback for the remainder of the 1974 season. The football world was stunned by the bold move. However, Harris came through by leading the team to seven wins in its last nine regular-season games. He led the team to its second straight NFC Western Division title, as well as their first playoff victory (19-10 over the Washington Redskins) since 1951. Harris thus became the first African-American quarterback to start and win an NFL playoff game. The Rams lost the NFC Championship Game to the Minnesota Vikings 14-10. Harris was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team in 1974 and was awarded MVP of that game. The strong-armed Harris helped lead the team to another division title in 1975. Harris, in turn, became the first African-American to open a season as his team's starting quarterback in National Football League history. "As a quarterback, I had done all I could, more than most people could, but it still wasn't enough for the Los Angeles Rams organization to accept me as a quarterback, not a black quarterback," he commented. At the time of his departure, Harris held the highest career completion average of any quarterback in Rams team history (55.4%) and had been an integral part of three straight NFC West Champions. Harris was deeply upset by his trade from a perennial playoff team to a team in rebuilding mode and also by losing his status as a starting quarterback. Nonetheless, Harris maintained a good relationship with Chuck Knox. Stabler signed a two-year contract with the Raiders in March 1968. In November, the Raiders sent Stabler to Spokane, Washington, to play for the Spokane Shockers of the Continental Football League. He played in two games for the Shockers before being recalled by the Raiders in late November. In July 1969, Stabler left the Raiders. However, in November 1969, Stabler said "I'll be back in pro football come June." In January 1970, it was reported that Stabler and Raiders head coach John Madden agreed that Stabler would return to the Raiders for training camp in July. Stabler made his first regular season appearance as a Raider in 1970. He first attracted attention in the NFL in a 1972 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. After entering the game in relief of a flu-ridden Daryle Lamonica, he scored the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard scramble. The Steelers, however, came back to win on a controversial, deflected pass from Terry Bradshaw to Franco Harris, later known in football lore as the Immaculate Reception. After having severe knee injuries, Stabler became less a scrambling quarterback and more a classic, drop-back passer, known for accurate passes and an uncanny ability to lead late, come-from-behind drives. During the peak of his career, he had a receiving corps consisting of sprinter Cliff Branch, sure handed receiver Fred Biletnikoff, and tight end Dave Casper. All three of Stabler's receivers would ultimately end up in the Hall of Fame. The Raiders' philosophy was to pound teams with their running game (aided by multiple-time Pro Bowler Marv Hubbard at fullback, and Clarence Davis at tailback), then stretch them with their long passing game. Although Stabler lacked remarkable arm strength, he was a master of the long pass to Branch, and accurate on intermediate routes to Biletnikoff and Casper. As a starter in Oakland, Stabler was named AFC player of the year in 1974 and 1976, and was the NFL's passing champion in 1976. In January 1977, he guided the Raiders to their first Super Bowl victory, a decisive 32–14 win over the Minnesota Vikings at the Rose Bowl. Stabler was awarded the Hickok Belt for 1976, as the year's top professional sports athlete. In the 1977 AFC playoffs against the Baltimore Colts on Christmas Eve, Stabler completed a legendary fourth quarter pass to Casper to set up a game-tying field goal by Errol Mann. This play, dubbed the "Ghost to the Post," sent the game to double overtime, which the visiting Raiders won 37–31, after Stabler threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Casper. In the second game of 1978 on September 10, the Holy Roller (Immaculate Deception) Game saw Oakland win 21–20 at San Diego after a fourth quarter forward fumble by Stabler was caught and forward-fumbled by two other players to score a touchdown and win the game. This caused the Ken Stabler Rule to be enacted in 1979, permitting only the fumbling player to recover the ball during a fourth down play, or during any down played after the two-minute warning in a half or overtime. After subpar 1978 and 1979 seasons in which the Raiders failed to make the playoffs and saw the departure of many team leaders from the Super Bowl run – Clarence Davis, Skip Thomas, George Atkinson, Fred Biletnikoff, Willie Brown, and head coach John Madden – Stabler was traded in March 1980 to the Oilers for Dan Pastorini. He left as the Raiders' all-time leader in completions (1,486), passing yards (19,078), and touchdown passes (150). The Oilers saw Stabler as the missing ingredient that could finally get them past the rival Steelers and into the Super Bowl. Houston lacked the exceptional talent on offense that Stabler had thrived with in Oakland, as Earl Campbell and Casper—who was also acquired in a trade from the Raiders—were the few potent weapons they had. Meanwhile, Pastorini lost the starting job in Oakland to Jim Plunkett after an injury, and Plunkett then led the Raiders to a win in Super Bowl XV, which included a playoff win over the Oilers in the wild card game. Houston head coach Bum Phillips was fired shortly after the season, succeeded by defensive coordinator Ed Biles. Without the popular head coach that rejuvenated an otherwise woeful Houston franchise, Stabler did not report to training camp in 1981 and announced his retirement through his agent on July 23. After five weeks and an injury to projected starter Gifford Nielsen, he returned to the Oilers in late August and signed a two-year contract. He had a mediocre season, as Houston went 7–9 and missed the playoffs. Released by the Oilers after the season, Stabler re-joined Phillips in New Orleans in late August. (Dave Wilson had a season-ending knee injury on August 12.) In mid-September, the Saints traded longtime starter Archie Manning for offensive tackle Leon Gray.[35] By this time, however, the 37-year-old Stabler was past his prime and the Saints were still a fairly dismal franchise. The first year was interrupted by a two-month players' strike; New Orleans was 4–5 and narrowly missed the expanded playoffs. The 1983 season was his best as a Saint. He started 14 games, and while the team's record in those games was only 7–7, Stabler was the starter for the final game of the season, in New Orleans, against the division rival Los Angeles Rams. Had the Saints won that game, they would have finished 9–7 and reached their first trip to the playoffs. But the Rams pulled out the victory late in the 4th quarter, 26–24. The Saints then acquired New York Jets veteran Richard Todd, who like Stabler played for Bryant at Alabama, before the 1984 season and Stabler retired in the middle of that season, in late October. Stabler was the fastest to win 100 games as a starting quarterback, having done so in 150 games, which bettered Johnny Unitas' previous mark of 153 games. Since then, only Terry Bradshaw in 147 games, Joe Montana in 139 games, and Tom Brady in 131 games have reached 100 wins more quickly. In the early part of 1974, Stabler and several NFL stars agreed to join the newly created World Football League. He signed a contract to play for the Birmingham Americans. "I'm as happy as can be. Getting with a super organization and the financial benefits were key factors, but the biggest thing to me is getting back home. Getting to play before the people in the South is where it's at for me. In two years I'll be in Birmingham if I have to hitchhike," he said. "If I can do for the WFL what Joe Namath did for the AFL, I will feel that I have really accomplished something. I was born in the South and raised in the South and played football in the South. Oakland could have offered me as much money as Birmingham but they couldn't have let me play in the South." The WFL folded midway through the 1975 season, and Stabler remained in the NFL without ever playing in the WFL. Stabler was named the twenty-seventh greatest quarterback of the post-merger era by Football Nation. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Stabler to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2014. At the 2016 NFL Honors, it was announced that Stabler had been selected for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was officially inducted on August 6, 2016.

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Location: Beverly Hills, California

End Time: 2024-09-05T16:14:22.000Z

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