Minor league football, circa 1973, was neither glamorous nor lucrative.
But the addition of NFL star Roman Gabriel to its ranks would’ve certainly been flashy – especially framed by the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas. And the promise of a $100,000 payday was the key to luring the 32-year-old Gabriel to the desert and making him the face of its lower division team.
The Las Vegas Casinos, members of the Southwestern Football League, tried to put themselves (and the SFL) on the map in April, 1973, by bringing in Gabriel. And based on news reports at the time, it appeared that such a move was actually possible.
Gabriel was going through a messy divorce from the Rams, asking to be traded after new L.A. coach Chuck Knox signed John Hadl away from the San Diego Chargers and tapped him as the franchise’s presumptive starting QB.
Gabriel was coming off an injury-plagued 1972 campaign that saw him suffer from a collapsed lung and tendinitis in his throwing elbow. Although he played in all 14 regular season games, he managed just 12 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.
But while Gabriel was uncertain about his NFL future, his agent – Ed Masry – said his client had an opportunity to get an early start on the 1973 football season. The Casinos would begin their campaign in June and were supposedly ready to write Gabriel a check for six figures, plus a percentage of gate receipts. According to Masry, an agreement in principle to play with Las Vegas had been made on April 12.
The Southwestern League was formed in February, 1972, and its primary gimmicks were field goals from 35 to 50 yards counting four points and those from 51 or more worth five. The SFL featured the Casinos, Phoenix Blazers, Southern California Razorbacks, New Mexico Thunderbirds, Denver Oilers, Dallas Rockets, San Antonio Toros, Oklahoma City Wranglers and Kansas City Steers.
The plan was for Gabriel to play eight games for Las Vegas during the summer and then he could resume his career with an NFL team during its exhibition slate.
But … there was a pretty big problem.
Since Gabriel was still on the payroll of the Rams, he had to follow NFL rules.
“No player under contract to a club in the NFL shall be permitted to participate in any football game for or against any team, group or organization outside the league except in games officially approved and sanctioned by the NFL,” reads an excerpt from the NFL constitution.
League officials also warned him that jumping to the SFL could possibly result in a permanent ban from the NFL.
At a news conference at Masry’s office, Gabriel didn’t address the minor league rumors, but claimed his contract with L.A. was null and void since the franchise was under new ownership.
“I don’t get along with the present Rams management,” he told Associated Press for an April 14 story. “I have reason to distrust them, so it makes it difficult to play for them. I’m a little upset and offended about it being said that I am afraid to compete against John Hadl. In the past 11 years I have competed against a minimum of 14 quarterbacks in order to maintain my position as a starter.
“Under no circumstances would I ever leave a team because of competition. I thrive on it; I don’t fear it.”
Of course – spoiler alert – Gabriel didn’t play for the Casinos, and who knows if he ever had any real intention to do so. It was just a public way of letting the Rams know his time in southern California was over and they needed to make a deal.
It was a bummer for me, because the Rams were my favorite team in the NFL (prior to its merger with the American Football League), and Gabriel was a major reason why.
On April 18, Masry and Casinos legal counsel Eddie LeBaron (a former NFL quarterback himself and four-time Pro Bowler) released a joint statement saying Gabriel would not suit up for Las Vegas.
“Mr. Gabriel has commenced initial steps toward legal resolution of his purported contract with the Los Angeles Rams. It does not appear possible to revolve the legal questions in time for the Las Vegas Casinos to arrange a summer schedule that would permit Mr. Gabriel to play for a National Football League club in the fall. Therefore, negotiation for his services have been terminated by mutual agreement,” the statement read.
The story had a happy ending – at least for Gabriel.
In June he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for Harold Jackson, Tony Baker, a 1974 first-round selection and first and third-round picks in 1975.
He went on to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors in 1973, throwing for league highs of 3,219 yards and 23 touchdowns (although the Eagles finished 5-8-1 and third in the NFC East).
He spent the last five years of his 16-year NFL career in Philly, and why he isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame remains a mystery to me.
As for the Casinos, they suffered the same fate as most minor league/semi-pro teams, spending the rest of their brief existence in obscurity.
They did manage to make the 1973 SFL playoffs without Gabriel, although they were blown out by the Toros in the semifinals, 45-3. Vegas was without starting quarterback Mark Bordeaux – who missed the game because he was attending a wedding.
The Casinos’ last bit of notoriety came in 1974 when, playing in the Pacific Professional Football League, they defeated the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, 100-0, on June 29. The game saw the winners tally 15 touchdowns and was shortened to 50 minutes because it was such a mismatch. The team folded in August, turning the lights out on the three-year old team repping the City of Lights.
