Do it yourself Gabe

 


Do it yourself Gabe


    These words, uttered by Billy Hogan were a microcosm of the frustration of young Ram fans in the George Allen era. It was right after Christmas in 1969 and the Gabe-lead Rams faced the hated Vikings in a conference championship on the frozen ground of Metropolitan Stadium. It was one of the most brutal and hard hitting games in LA Ram history. This was the powerful Ram team with the fearsome foursome and NFL MVP Roman Gabriel. Studly rookie Larry Smith played most of the game with a broken nose but  pounded out yards on the ground with fellow back Willie Ellison. The Rams were in white and faced the hall of fame "purple people eater" defensive line of the Vikes and hard-ass Joe Kapp at QB. As was the loved custom, the Gate pals gathered in the front room of McNerney where the old sage would add color to the assembled Knowlton bros., Billy Hogan, myself, Greg and Jack staring at the Sylvania tube. The tradition involved stopping at Winchells for a large coffee and a couple of donuts except Johnny who showed up with the hair of the dog. Gil Stratton painted a picture of real bone crushing football. The game went well for the Rams as they lead by 10 due to grind it out drives and a Bruce Gosset FG. Yet, Kapp rallied the Vikes and took a 21-20 lead late that later swelled to 23-20 after Gabe was caught for a safety. In the last gasp, the Rams went on a march to at least kick a FG and go into sudden death overtime but on a 4th and 1 as we watched nervously Billy shouted "Do it yourself Gabe!" One the frozen field Gabe stood up and threw an off balance pass from the icy ground that was batted and then caught by Carl Eller who returned the interception up the field thus dooming our heroes to another frustrating failure to reach the Super Bowl. 






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