(WGHP) — Roman Gabriel, the legendary North Carolina State University quarterback and NFL MVP has died at the age of 83, his son announced on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Gabriel starred for the Wolfpack football team from 1959-1961. He won ACC Player of the Year twice in 1960 and 1961 and was twice selected as a First-team All-American.
His No. 18 jersey is retired by NC State and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for his college success.
After leaving NC State, Gabriel earned the unique distinction of being a top pick in two separate professional football leagues. He was selected with the first-overall pick in the 1962 American Football League Draft by the then-AFL member Oakland Raiders.
Gabriel was also selected with the second-overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams.
After starting intermittently his first few years with the Rams, he emerged as an NFL superstar in 1967.
Gabriel was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1969 and was also named a First-team All-Pro that same season.
He made three Pro Bowl appearances with the Rams in 1967, 1968 and 1969 and was named a Second-team All-Pro in 1967 and 1968.
The Rams traded Gabriel to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973 and showed the world he still had it. He was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1973 after leading the league in passing yards and was selected to his fourth and final Pro Bowl selection.
Gabriel was the first in a long line of quarterbacks that helped give NC State its reputation as “QBU”; referring to the amount of NFL quarterbacks who played at the university.
Since Gabriel, NFL stars such as Russell Wilson and Phillip Rivers have adorned Wolfpack jerseys. Other Wolfpack QBs to make the NFL include Jacoby Brissett, Mike Glennon, Ryan Finley and Erik Kramer.
Gabriel’s son, Roman Gabriel III, says that he died at his home peacefully of natural causes.
