No. 12
Alabama
"Didn't do much in 1971, but when he did, he did it well. Shea Stadium fans are still buzzing about his comeback game against San Francisco last season when he threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns and almost upset the high-flying 49ers.
Namath had missed the last nine games of the 1970 and most of the 1971 regular season games up until then. A broken wrist sidelined him in '70, and torn ligaments ruined him for most of '71.
In his four-game comeback, Joe showed he could still throw bombs. He connected for 74 and 57-yard touchdowns and averaged 9.10 yards per attempt. He played with braces on both knees.
Namath's future is shaky because of knee problems. He ranks as the seventh leading passer among active AFC quarterbacks. Career-wise, he's thrown 2,281 passes for a 50.2 percentage with 17,283 yards and 107 touchdowns, but injuries have spoiled his opportunities for stats. In his one healthy season (1967) he passed for 4,007 yards; he holds most of the important Jet passing records. Joe says he wants to play a few more seasons.
Always in the limelight, his most recent headline-grabber was a romance with Raquel Welch. Namath has been a clutch player throughout his career in high school, college and the pros. He's starred in the Orange Bowl, College All-Star Game and Super Bowl."
-Jim Benagh, The Complete Handbook of Pro Football, 1972 Edition
"Joe's 1971 debut was something special. On November 28 against the 49ers, he came in for the injured Bob Davis in the 2nd period and completed 11 of 27 passes for 258 yards. He threw two touchdown passes to Richard Caster and one to Ed Bell as the Jets were defeated, 24-21.
Joe is a very eligible bachelor."
-1972 Topps No. 100
Joe won Gridiron's Gold Gipper Award for the 49er effort and was named the winner of the New England Sportswriters' Colclough Award as the most courageous player.
He started the final three games, though bothered by a sore right elbow from being hit in the 49er contest. Despite his inactivity for nearly two years, Namath still showed how to direct an offense as well as anyone in the game today. He threw only 12 times against New England, turning to a careful running game to win, 13-6; he threw only once in the second half of that game. He closed out the campaign with a 9-for-15 for 154 yards and two touchdowns performance against the Bengals; one of the TDs was a 74-yarder to Don Maynard.
Joe had made a fine comeback from his broken wrist and was looking as sharp as ever when the second serious injury in as many years struck him in the second quarter of the Jets' first preseason game. He damaged the ligaments in his left knee while trying to make a tackle on Detroit's Mike Lucci, who had recovered a Jet fumble. Joe underwent surgery immediately and was on the sidelines for the first 10 games of the season, stretching his inactive streak to 19 games in a row. He was hobbled by both the knee injury and a damaged nerve in his foot as a result of the blow but was back working out with the offense by November 18.
1970 was also a bleak year for the All-Pro quarterback as he fractured the navicular bone in his right wrist five plays from the end of the Baltimore game at Shea on October 18. He stayed in the game and completed three of his final five tosses in an effort to tie the game, but he was lost for the remainder of the year, and his arm was in a cast for nearly four months. He had been off to an impressive start that year, after reporting late to camp, and was re-elected offensive captain by his teammates. Joe opened 1970 with a 298-yard evening against Cleveland and set Jet records for passes attempted (62) and completed (34), and had his third best day in yardage (397) against Baltimore before being felled.
Now, fully recovered from the injuries of the last two years, Namath has career figures of 2,281 attempts, 1,144 completions, 17,283 yards and 107 touchdowns. He is a member of the all-time All-AFL squad chosen by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was a combined All-Pro (NFL-AFL) following the '68 and '69 campaigns by a vote of coaches and has had four AFL All-Star Game appearances. Joe was MVP of the Jets after those two years as well, the only time any Jet has won the coveted NEA Third Down Award more than once.
Namath gained almost every possible award after guiding the club to the Super Bowl crown: he was named winner of the Hickock Belt, AFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP and the George Halas Award as the Most Courageous Pro Player. He went through a six-game span that year without throwing a touchdown pass, but the Jets won five of those games, as he became an all-around quarterback. Namath threw for three touchdowns in the AFL Championship game (two to Maynard, one to Lammons). He called almost a perfect game in the Super Bowl and completed 17 of 28 for 206 yards.
Namath combined with Maynard for the longest pass in Jet history- 87 yards at San Diego in 1968, yet turned more conservative in 1969, his last full season, throwing only 361 passes, the fewest since his rookie year. He holds virtually all the Jet passing records and has gone over the 300-yard mark 17 times in his career. Joe shares the AFC record for consecutive completions with 15 in back-to-back games against Miami and Boston in 1967. He's the only passer in pro history to surpass 4,000 yards in a year, with 4,007 in '67.
Namath was AFL Rookie of the Year in 1965, MVP of the '65 All-Star Game and co-MVP of the '67 All-Star Game. He has rushed 40 times for 117 yards and six touchdowns in his career, and his longest run was 37 yards against Oakland in 1966.
Namath has had four knee operations. His right knee was operated on for removal of cartilage and repair of ligaments on January 25, 1965, 23 days after he signed with the Jets. He had cartilage removed and a tendon transfer in a major operation on his right knee on December 28, 1966. His left knee was operated on for repair of a small tendon tear on March 20, 1968. A '5-in-1' operation on his left knee was performed on August 8, 1971 for ligament and cartilage damage and a tendon transfer after the injury against Detroit. All operations were performed by Jet orthopedist Dr. James A. Nicholas.
Joe was drafted No. 1 by both the Jets and the St. Louis Cardinals in 1965. He has made three movies: 'Norwood' with Glenn Campbell, 'C.C. and Company' with Ann-Margret, and 'The Last Rebel.' He received very favorable notices for his starring role in 'C.C. and Company.'
Namath had his own television show syndicated during the '69 and '71 seasons and has hosted the Tonight Show numerous times. He has made guest appearances on many TV shows such as Laugh In, Flip Wilson and the Dinah Shore Show.
Namath owns three Bachelors III's- in Boston, Ft. Lauderdale and Tuscaloosa- and visited servicemen in the Far East on a USO tour following the Super Bowl.
Joe resides in New York and Miami during the off-season. His hometown is Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania."
-The New York Jets Official 1972 Yearbook, edited by Frank Ramos
JOE NAMATH SAYS HE'S THE BEST: BUT IS HE?
Jet QB Plays As Well As He Talks
"Joe Namath still remembers what his high school coach told him.
'My high school coach said something to the team once. He told us, 'If you don't dream about it, it won't happen.' I've dreamed about things and a lot of them have come true.'
Maybe the sleep-eyed, mop-headed quarterback of the New York Jets meant it when he said, 'I think I'm the best quarterback in football, and those who don't think so, well, we'll wait and see.'
The occasion, of course, was the announcement of Joe's signing his new two-year contract. Estimates put his annual salary at $250,000, or about $10,000 a completion. The part-time movie star who- going into the 1972 season- had missed 19 of the Jets' last 26 regular season games was defending his right to that kind of money.
'There are a lot of reasons,' he said. 'New York is the biggest city in the country. The Jets are the only team it has. The Giants are terrible.
'If the Jets are to win they have to hire me, or one just as capable. Or they have to get one out of the washing machine.' No one has yet asked Joe Willie to explain that strange reference to washing machines, unless he's going into the laundry business.
But he still had more to say: 'I think I can play better than anyone. They don't have to take a gamble on me. They know what I can do.'
Is Joe Willie Namath, THE Joe Willie Namath, from Beaver Falls, Alabama, Miami, Hollywood, the guy they call 'Broadway Joe,' really the best quarterback in the game?
We have it on his word that he is. Does he really mean it, or is he just dreaming, hoping it'll all come true?'
Joe must certainly believe by now that saying it makes it come true. It was his mouth almost as much as his arm that beat the Colts on that gray day in the Orange Bowl in Super Bowl III.
Before the teams lined up for picture taking day in Miami, Joe was putting the knock on his rival quarterback, Earl Morrall. He said that Daryle Lamonica of the Oakland Raiders, who he beat for the American Football League championship, was far and away a better quarterback than Morrall, who was Player of the Year in the National Football League.
He went even further and said that Vito 'Babe' Parilli, his backup man, was better than Morrall. 'You put Babe Parilli with Baltimore, and Baltimore might have been better. Babe throws better than Morrall.'
Then there was his famous mouth fight with the Colts' Lou Michaels in a Miami recreation spot. The tough Michaels was verbally flattened by Namath who told him, 'we're going to knock the .... out of you guys.' That from a 17-point underdog.
'Haven't you ever heard of the word 'modesty?' ' Michaels asked. Anyone who knew Joe could have told him he was asking a silly question.
'We're going to beat you and pick you apart,' said Namath, who was just warming to his fun.
It's really not necessary to go any further. The Colts went out there trying to make Namath eat his words. All they did was look silly, because while Namath was waving the cape, the rest of the Jets were stampeding over the Colts.
Is there really a way, though, to measure Namath's self-proclaimed greatness? Well, one way is to look at the records. How have the Jets done since Namath walked into Shea Stadium with his overnight bag stuffed full of Sonny Werblin's money?
The first year, 1965, they were a loser. The next season they were a .500 club. In 1967 he had his finest year, setting an all-time pro record of 4,007 yards through the air with 26 touchdowns. The team won eight games. The next year they won it all, and the year after that they were ten and four but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. In 1970, Namath played in only the first five before getting his wrist broken against the Baltimore Colts. The team was one and four at that point. Make your own judgment.
The 1971 season, in which he played only in the last four games, we can just ignore. The Jets were finished before he came back.
Another way would be to compare Joe's first six seasons against those of another quarterback. Take John Unitas. We don't take Unitas because he is Unitas, especially, but because he was thrust into play by the Colts when their regular quarterback, George Shaw, was injured. He started out his rookie year the same as Namath without getting any of that bench and head-set education.
But then again what would be unfair about comparing Joe to John? Joe did say he was the greatest, didn't he? But he didn't specify if he meant for one season, until he's through playing or for all time. Maybe the comparison would be unfair to John. We'll see.
In his first six years with the Jets, Joe Willie Namath passed for 102 touchdowns, but he had 116 interceptions, and in only three of those years did his completion percentage get above .500. That's a rather low figure, considering his greatness, but Joe had a reason for why it is what it is.
He said it was because he threw most of his passes to his wide receivers who run the longer, deeper, harder-to-complete patterns. 'I could have completed 80 per cent if I dropped the ball off to my backs like they do in their (NFL) league,' Joe responded to a critic.
As to his rather high ratio of interceptions to touchdown passes goes, Joe has been rather quiet.
In many respects Joe is a perfectionist as well as being an extremely gifted athlete. He has a marvelous arm, takes a great deal of pride in getting back and setting up quickly and has a hair-trigger release. He is very sharp in reading the defensive coverage as soon as or before the play starts.
He does have one flaw, however, and it is mainly that one flaw that has been responsible for so many of his interceptions. In all his years in football Namath has never overcome the basic fault of throwing off his back foot. He apparently thinks his arm will do all the work. It results in him throwing some sailers that are easy pick-offs by the deep men in the zones.
Unitas started his blitz on the all-time records during the 1956 season. He threw for nine touchdowns, had 10 interceptions and a completion percentage of 55.6 that first year. By the end of his sixth year he had thrown 125 touchdown passes, had 96 interceptions, and never had a season when his completion percentage was under .500.
Namath took the Jets to the Super Bowl in four years. Well, Unitas had a world's championship in three years, beating the Giants in the sudden-death game in 1958, and repeating the following year as world champions. Not perfect, but then Unitas never said he was the greatest.
All this is not to put Namath down. He's exciting and a colorful performer and it's a pleasure to have him around. It's just to measure the deeds against the mouth.
All his life Joe Namath has been characterized as lonely, defiant, cocky. All his life he's been told he's the greatest. Now he's said it himself. He's challenged himself. He's given himself something to play up to. Now he has to live up to his dream."
-Bob Billings, Football Digest, November 1972
No comments:
Post a Comment