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NC State football countdown to kickoff: 18

MattCarterby:Matt Carter•08/13/23•

TheWolfpacker

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Former NC State football quarterback Roman Gabriel (Photo courtesy NC State media relations)

The NC State football season opener for 2023 is at Connecticut on Aug. 31 — or 18 days away. TheWolfpacker.com’s countdown for the season looks at the significance of the number 18 in Pack history.

NC State Football And The No. 18

Any discussion about the No. 18 around NC State football starts and probably ends with one name — Roman Gabriel. Long before a recent, long line of pro-level quarterbacks from NC State, there was Gabriel.

NC State makes a justifiable claim for being ‘QBU,’ and the heritage of that starts with Gabriel, who from 1959-61 revolutionize the quarterback position in the sport.

Gabriel is the only NC State football player to be a two-time ACC Player of the Year, taking home the honors both in 1960 and 1961. He was also named a first-team All-American by the Football Writers and Football News after both seasons, and added Time Magazine honors in his senior year of 1961.

After his senior season, Gabriel was ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Gabriel was also selected in 1960 as the ACC Athlete of the Year, the last NC State football player to receive that honor. He was the first Wolfpack player to also be a multiple-times first-team All-ACC choice.

In his debut season as a starter for NC State, Gabriel led the NCAA in completion percentage (60.4 percent), and he finished his career with a then-school record 2,951 yards passing. Gabriel and Russell Wilson are the only two quarterbacks at NC State to rush and throw for multiple touchdowns in the same game on multiple occasions.

Gabriel was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Following his NC State playing days, Gabriel was drafted second overall in the 1962 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He proceeded to spend 16 years in the league, choosing that route instead of the AFL even after he was selected No. 1 overall in that draft by the Oakland Raiders. He won the NFL MVP award in 1969 and was a four-time Pro Bowler. Gabriel led the NFL in passing yards in 1969 and 1973, the latter season earned him the honor of being named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Gabriel’s No. 18 is retired by NC State, who also included him in the first class for the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. No one has worn No. 18 for the Wolfpack since Gabriel’s last game in the NC State uniform.

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