Steve Zabel

Steve Zabel was born on March 20, 1948, in Minneapolis and moved to Denver after his parents divorced. At Thornton High School in Colorado he earned nine letters, played tight end, defensive end, punter and kicker, and won a state high jump title. He played at New Mexico Military Institute in 1966 before transferring to Oklahoma in 1967. At OU he was first-team All-Big Eight in 1968 and 1969 and a second-team All-American in 1968. Philadelphia drafted him sixth overall in 1970 as a tight end and moved him to linebacker in his second season. Over 10 seasons with the Eagles (1970–1974), New England (1975–1978) and Baltimore (1979), he played 124 games with 95 starts, six interceptions and 13 fumble recoveries. Tidbit: in the early 1990s he co-founded City Care in Oklahoma City with a college teammate. It started by serving meals to the homeless and grew into tutoring and housing programs. The Daily Oklahoman wrote on January 28, 1970 (NewsBank page 29): "Taken by the Philadelphia Eagles, Zabel was the sixth player selected in the draft while Files was 13th, going to the New York Giants. Owens was 19th on the list."