Stabler, Theismann were both great quarterbacks

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The Pro Football Hall of Fame will soon announce its inductees for 2016, and there is a good chance former Raiders’ quarterback Ken Stabler will be among them.

Stabler and former offensive lineman Dick Stanfel are the senior nominees this year.

Unfortunately, both men died last summer, so neither are around to enjoy the moment.

Stabler led the Raiders to a win in Super Bowl XI, but his career stats aren’t all that impressive.

He had 194 touchdown passes but threw 222 interceptions, and his career quarterback rating was 75.3.

If Stabler is a Hall of Famer, then his contemporary, former Redskins’ QB Joe Theismann, should be one, too.

Theismann led the Redskins to a victory in Super Bowl XVII, and had more career TD passes (160) than interceptions (138). His career passer rating was 77.4.

Both Stabler – who had a longer NFL career – and Theismann excelled in the most important stat … wins as a starting quarterback.

Stabler was 96-49-1 as a starter while Theismann was 77-47.

I recently asked Theismann’s college coach, Hall of Famer Ara Parseghian, about what Theismann was like during his playing days at Notre Dame.

“Joe was a good athlete but under-sized when he came to Notre Dame,” said Parseghian. “The better word for Joe would be super-confident and it rubbed off on his teammates. He was great under pressure.”

Stanfel was an outstanding offensive guard on the Detroit Lions’ 1952-53 back-to-back NFL title teams which featured the late long-time Urbana resident Ollie Cline as a fullback.

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Trivia Time – San Diego Padres’ pitcher Eric Show gave up Pete Rose’s record-breaking 4,192nd hit in 1985.

This week’s question – Joe Theismann first played for which professional football team?

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By Steve Stout

[email protected]

Reach Steve Stout at 652-1331 (ext. 1776) or on Twitter @udcstout

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