Ken Stabler: Snake’s reputation for carousing was on a par with fellow University of Alabama alum Joe Namath’s, but with some stylistic differences. Broadway Joe was a celebrity playboy at home in the glitz and glare of New York, but Snake was pure Alabama honky-tonk, a southern renegade bathed in the flickering light of a neon beer sign.

For Stabler and the rest of the team, the parties started on the first day of training camp. Among veterans, camp has a rote, eat-your-spinich quality, and Stabler, already uncomfortable with schedules and rules, felt it more acutely than most. But rather than letting it sour their moods, Stabler and his cronies decided that, since their presence was mandatory, they might as well kick out the jams. As Stabler put it: “The monotony of camp was so oppressive that without the diversions of whiskey and women, those of us who were wired for activity on no more than six hours sleep a night might have gone berserk.”

Shortly after arriving in Oakland, Snake hooked up with four like-minded players, forming a hedonistic club he called the “Santa Rosa Five.” In addition to himself, there was halfback Pete Banaszak, receiver Fred Biletnikoff, defensive end Tony Cline and linebacker Dan Conners. They lived in a two-room suite at the El Rancho Motel in Santa Rosa and it quickly became party-central for Raiders in need of a good time. The Five bought three refurbished refrigerators and lined them up side by side in the suite’s main room. One was for snacks, the other two were exclusively for beer. Properly packed, they could hold 20 cases.

The team was shackled with an 11pm curfew during camp. Adherence was monitored by bed-checks and a parking lot patrol (to ensure all player-owned vehicles were accounted for). Practices usually ended with a team meeting that lasted, roughly, from 8 to 9:30pm, leaving the players 90 minutes of “social time” before curfew. To the Santa Rosa Five this meant “The Circuit”—five bars before bed-check. At the meeting, the Five took seats by the door and the minute the meeting adjourned they would sprint to their rooms, clean up, and pile into Pete Banaszak’s huge Buick. The idea was to drink as much as possible, pick up as many girls as possible, and get back before 11pm. After bed-check, they’d sneak out, jump into one or more of the girls’ cars (thus dodging the parking lot check) and party until the wee hours. Stabler claims they never got caught and the coaches never got wise.

Later in his career, Stabler decided that since he was spending so much time in bars he might as well open one of his own. He ended up opening two in Florida, one called Lefty’s and the other The End Zone.

The Raiders of the 1970s and early ‘80s were a team like no other. Stabler sums them up this way: “The players partied hard and played hard, and that combination may have been no small factor in why we won.”

KEN STABLER IS MY MENTOR! (sissy QB's need not apply)

Absolutely a classic line.

@ledzepfan1 said:

I have dvd's of old games... we'll see how the rest of the night progresses and I might just watch another one.

Stabler to throw....

Intercepted by Clarence Scott.......

Ball game...

Stabler throws 4 int's (hi skippy)

Browns win...Browns win...Browns win..

Browns go to 9-4 and in sole possesion of first place in the AFC Central.

Johnny Evans in to punt it back to the Oilers who have 1 time out remaining.

@mark-o said:

Lol check it out, you wont need to pay for cable anymore

nmills said:

If I knew what Justin TV was I would consider it.

Houston with the ball down 3 at their own 40

Browns still up 3. 4:57 to go.

@riffer-x said:

How's dem apples?

The Jets game featured Greg Pruitt catching a couple of TD passes.

And yes....Rashad and the hail mary and Feacher catching 2 against Cincy and Cockroft making a short FG to win it with less than a minute to go.

@mark-o said:

Jets at home

Vikings away

Bengals away

Anyone remember how those 3 games played out at the end of the 1980 season?

Ahem.....Ahmad Rashad and Ricky Feacher.

How's dem apples?

17-14 Browns...