Remembering Roman Gabriel

Roman Gabriel, the 1989 College Football Hall of Fame inductee who starred at North Carolina State from 1959-61, passed away April 20. He was 83.

At 6-4 and 225 pounds, Roman Gabriel did it all, twice earning First Team All-America honors and twice being named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year. He also earned Academic All-America honors for his accomplishments in the classroom. The captain of the team, he set 22 school and nine conference football records, and he became the first ACC quarterback to pass for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. He was the first NC State football player to top the NCAA in a statistical category, leading the nation with a 60.4% completion percentage in 1959. During three seasons in Raleigh, he passed for 19 touchdowns and ran for 15, establishing an ACC record with 34 touchdowns. His 2,951 career passing yards set the school record at the time. Against Maryland in 1959, he completed 23 passes.

A First Round NFL Draft pick (second overall) by the Rams in 1961, he played 16 years as a pro in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, earning four trips to the Pro Bowl. Gabriel was the first Filipino-American quarterback in the NFL and the league MVP in 1969. Football was his springboard to other pursuits, and he became a recognizable face in Hollywood and TV commercials, starring alongside John Wayne, Rock Hudson, Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope.