Wally Gabler Wallace " Wally " Gabler ( born June 9 , 1944 ) is a retired professional American football player . He was the starting quarterback for the 1965 Michigan Wolverines football team and played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League . Early years . Gabler was born in Portsmouth , Ohio , and attended Kimball High School in Royal Oak , Michigan . University of Michigan . Gabler enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1962 and played for the Michigan Wolverines football team . As a junior , Gabler appeared as a backup to Bob Timberlake on the 1964 Michigan team that won the Big Ten Conference championship . As a senior in 1965 , Gabler began the season as a backup to Dick Vidmer . Gabler got his first start in the fifth game of the season against Purdue . Gabler completed 9 of 28 passes in the game for 137 yards , including a touchdown pass to Jack Clancy . Gabler also started Michigan ' s remaining five games against Minnesota ( 13 of 23 for 124 yards ) , Wisconsin ( 5 of 12 for 121 yards ) , Illinois ( 7 of 12 for 124 yards ) , Northwestern ( 10 of 20 for 116 yards ) and Ohio State ( 4 of 11 for 56 yards ) . Over the course of the 1965 season , Gabler completed 58 of 126 passes for 825 yards , four touchdown passes and two interceptions . He also gained 149 rushing yards for the 1965 Wolverines . Following his senior year , Gabler played in the 1965 Blue – Gray Football Classic . Canadian Football League . Gabler played seven years in the Canadian Football League after graduating from Michigan in 1966 . He began his professional football career as the starting quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts . As a rookie , he passed for 1 , 659 yards and rushed for another 373 yards . In his history of the Argonauts , Craig Wallace wrote : " In 1966 , the offence was based on Wally Gabler running around the backfield looking for open receivers - - and when he couldn ' t find one , running for his life . " Gabler remained with the Argonauts for three years . He had his best year in 1968 when he completed 205 of 365 passes for 3 , 242 yards and 18 touchdowns . He also rushed for 458 yards and four touchdowns for the 1968 Argonauts . Interviewed in 1968 , Gabler described his adjustment to the Canadian rules : " Of course , changing to three downs makes some difference . You have to be accustomed to putting the ball in the air more in Canada but the rules compensate . " In August 1969 , Gabler was traded to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in exchange for Dave Raimey . Gabler gained 2 , 288 passing yards for the Blue Bombers in 1969 . During the 1970 season , Gabler was traded to the Hamilton Tiger - Cats . He passed for 1 , 908 yards for the Tiger - Cats in 1970 . He led the team to the Eastern regular season championship in 1970 . In November 1970 , the Canadian Press published a feature story about Gabler ' s role in leading the Tiger - Cats . The article described Gabler as " scholarly " and " soft - spoken " and noted : " Wally Gabler ' s shoulders will be carrying the lion ' s share of the load Sunday when he directs the Tiger - Cats in the first game of the Eastern Football Conference final against the Montreal Alouettes . And it ' s ironic in view of the nomadic life the 26 - year - old Royal Oak , Mich . native has experienced in his short career in the Canadian Football League . . . . Arriving in late September to fill in at quarterback for injured Joe Zuger , Gabler quickly picked up the intricate Hamilton offence and was one of the instruments in the Tiger - Cats ' first place finish . " During the off - seasons from 1967 to 1971 , Gabler sold securities for Richardson Securities of Canada . In August 1972 , Gabler returned to the Toronto Argonauts , who lost their quarterback Joe Theismann in the season opener . Gabler concluded his playing career in Toronto during the 1972 season , passing for 1 , 689 yards in 10 games . In seven years in the CFL , Gabler completed 848 of 1 , 690 passes for 13 , 080 yards , 61 touchdowns and 118 interceptions . Later years . Gabler was a colour commentator on CTV in 1974 .