I remember that game. It was a pre-season game vs. the Lions. LB Mike Lucci picked off a pass and was headed down the sidelines. Namath went over to tackle Lucci and suffered probably the worst knee injury in his career as he ended up missing roughly half of the games after that. Namath said he tried to make the tackle because "I only know one way to play football." This from the same guy who played most of a game in Oakland with a broken jaw and the same guy who had a finger purposely broken and dislocated by Ike Lassiter in the AFL Championship Game at Shea Stadium. The idea of comparing Namath and Sanchez is absurd. HOF coach Bear Bryant called him the "best athlete" he ever coached. HOF coach Vince Lombardi called Namath the "best pure passer" he had ever seen. HOF coach John Madden said that Namath was the one guy who scared him the most, this after Namath on a MNF game out in Oakland with most of his starting receiving corp out injured lighting up the Oakland secondary. Madden also put Namath on his All-Super Bowl team along with Joe Montana and Roger Staubach. HOF coach Bill Walsh called Namath the "most gifted QB" he had ever seen. Mark Sanchez? Mark Sanchez' college coach said he wasn't ready for the NFL draft. Pretty different assessment.
The sad part is that we never got to see the Alabama athlete in the pros. It was like watching Mickey Mantle hit in the second half of his carreer. All arms.
That's the frustrating part. Physically he is there. He improved dramatically if he mentally improved. Yet, the mental part of the game is the hardest to master and separates the elite from the great from the good from the rest of QBs
I know you're joking, but that's not the place to go, not today. Like it or not, Sanchize is the Jets starting option behind center this year and only time will tell if he has any Lazarus in him.
I'm not sure that's true..he will most likely still be on the team this year but I believe unlike last year there will be a competition and he could lose his job to Garrard or somebody that may not even be on the team yet.
In today's game he's also playing against superior athletes, how would his broken down body hold up? would advanced training and nutrition make him more durable against today's bigger, stronger, faster, more athletic players? we'll never know. why did Pete Carroll say that? b/c he was being SELFISH knowing his only shot at a title in 2009 was if Sanchez came back. Who cares what Madden or Lombardi said? the proof is in the play, he was a top QB for a very brief period of time. all those quotes were about what Joe could have been not what he actually was. He had top 5 all time talent but unfortunately his body didn't cooperate. I really hate people sometimes.
Namath also played in a tougher time period than Sanchez. Football wasn't like it is today as far as the passing game goes. The rules favored the defensive back, not the offensive receivers or the quarterback. The rules alone should nullify the player athletic capabilities right there. Namath was tough, Sanchez would rather not initiate contact. Early in nachos career he would run and be aggressive, then he got clocked one time down around the goal line, and hasn't been the runner he was trying to be. Namath got clocked on every down throwing or not, back in the day. Receivers were allowed to be mugged, not like today. Rule changes are subtle over time and change the game entirely. The athletes of today have different demands placed on them in comparison to yesterday's athletes. There were no "enhancements" to their physicality. Not like there are today. But I bet you one thing, Namath kicks Nacho in the ass in a bar fight! Don't down play Namath for the sake of Nacho! Any one who ever does is not truly a "Jets" fan!
Namath was tough but not durable, Sanchez is tough AND durable. yes the rules didn't favor the offenses but again he didn't have to deal w/ the incredible athletes that today's QBs have to deal with. who cares who would win in a bar fight? we'd have a guy that wore pantyhose against a guy that practically wore womens clothes in GQ. not exactly an exciting fight. You have to be tough to play QB in the NFL in any era.
One guy put the pressure of an entire league on his shoulders... That's toughness. The other guy couldn't handle the pressure of "competing" with a glorified CFL QB...that's what we call the opposite of toughness.
The other guy had pressure from day 1 w/ a loudmouth coach talking SBs and he helped us get w/in the game of a SB twice. Joe delivered(though it was more the D and run game in SB III) w/o a doubt. His whole career is based on that one game, it's why he;s in the HOF. In today's game he wouldn't get 1 game to get to the SB, a home game against a team w/ a better record that beat his team in the reg season.
