Gordon Carr Gravelle (born June 12, 1949) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive tackle in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Drafted out of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

in the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

, Gravelle spent eight seasons with three teams: the Pittsburgh Steelers (1972–1976), the New York Giants (1977–1979), and the Los Angeles Rams (1979). He earned two

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. Since only one Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the team (ownership) itsel ...

s in

Super Bowl IX Super Bowl IX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League (NFL) cha ...

and Super Bowl X with the Steelers. He lost Super Bowl XIV in 1979 with The Los Angeles Rams. Gravelle was traded from the Steelers to the Giants for a second-round pick in the

1980 NFL Draft The 1980 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1980, at the New York Sh ...

(

Bob Kohrs Robert Henry Kohrs (born November 8, 1958) is a former American football player. Kohrs played as defensive back and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a 2nd round draft pick in the 1980 NFL Draf ...

) on August 30, 1977. The Giants were in need of offensive tackles of which the Steelers had a surplus. He announced his retirement in June 1979 but added his desire to be traded to a West Coast team to be near the private airport that he owned in

Antioch, California Antioch is the third-largest city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The city's population was 115,291 at the 2020 cen ...

. He rejoined the Giants on September 6 after teammate and fellow ex-Steeler

Jim Clack James Thomas Clack (October 26, 1947 – April 7, 2006) was an American football center and guard in the National Football League. He played for 11 seasons between 1971 and 1981. He died of heart failure in 2006 after suffering from ca ...

convinced him to end his retirement. He was also fined $15,300 which was $300 for each day missed from June minicamp through training camp and including Week 1 of the 1979 season. His first game after returning to the ballclub was a 27–0 shutout loss to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

at RFK Stadium on September 17. During the ''

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, A ...

'' telecast, he was subjected to criticism from the broadcast team of

Howard Cosell Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

and

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

for failure to prevent

Coy Bacon Lander McCoy Bacon (August 30, 1942 – December 22, 2008) was a professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Wash ...

from sacking

Joe Pisarcik Joseph Anthony Pisarcik (born July 2, 1952) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League for eight seasons, from 1977 through 1984 after playing high school football at West Side Central Catholic H. S. (late ...

throughout the contest. The problem was the broadcasters had misidentified Gus Coppens as Gravelle based on a Giants roster provided to the media that mistakenly switched the uniform numbers of both players. Gravelle called Cosell "a pompous, senile idiot. He's a disgrace to the broadcast profession, the epitome of an arrogant egotist" and threatened to sue him for slander over his on-air comment that "he (Gravelle) may take another fine and go home again." Gravelle was subsequently waived by the Giants and signed with the Rams on October 23."A Wide Receiver Signed by Giants; Gravelle to Rams," ''The New York Times'', Wednesday, October 24, 1979.
Retrieved July 20, 2020

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravelle, Gordon 1949 births Living people Players of American football from Oakland, California American football offensive tackles BYU Cougars football players Pittsburgh Steelers players New York Giants players Los Angeles Rams players