So far the only thing Rodgers has accomplished in NY is to cash a big, fat check and annoy people...oh, and he's a fun "locker room guy". Namath cashed a big fat check and was in the SB in 3 years.
Yep.. and until Rodgers does actually WIN something, he'll be known as an annoying glory hound. Namath was flamboyant, but he did win when it counted.
That is a fantastic recollection. I have watched the game in its' entirety, many years after it took place. I wondered if it was like that in reality at the time, especially with Broadway Joe and the guarantee. I'd hoped it was. I am delighted you have confirmed it. Thanks.
I cannot agree that times were simpler then, we just had fewer reference points. We also had slow news, but it was more accurate. Today social media makes communication immediate, but also far less accurate. We are constantly barraged with things that are fake - by accident or plan is the question.
Don't understand Cman simpler comment. He has been posting for 22 years so he cant be all that young. The 60's were extremely complicated...sex, drugs, rock and roll, war, assassinations', riots. You think campus unrest is an issue today, with middle east protests? Look up Kent State., etc. Sports then were the same as today. In football you had 11 men vs. 11 men. But QB called their plays, no instant replay, so maybe that is what he meant. by simpler.
They were more complicated when it came to social issues. The sports world had Ali dealing with it for the most part. Everyone else kinda played the good soldier part. The NFL Sports world back then was mostly old white guys who had set ideas about how things should be. Ali challenged with his refusal to go to Vietnam. Namath challenged that "norm" with the white shoes, fur coats, beautiful women, etc. living the high life not to mention having the gall to challenge the established football world representing the upstart AFL with a boast. There was no FA. i don't think there was a NFLPA union at that time either. Huge contracts had yet to come into being so the players had very little leverage. That's what I meant by "simpler" times. The options Rodgers has today is a quantum leap over what was available to Namath in the 60's.
As young guys, we also loved the fact that Namath was a wiseass. Right after he signed, the press grilled him. REPORTER: What did you major in at Alabama? Basket-weaving? NAMATH: Nah, I found something even easier: journalism. How could you not love a guy with a wise mouth like that?
I think I get more enjoyment out of randomly putting on drone racing with no knowledge of the people doing it or what the hell is going on than I have out of an NFL game in a very long time.
This is an excellent summary of what things were like then. I was 16 and had rooted for the NY Titans since my family had moved to NY in 1962 (We moved from outside Philly and I rooted for the Iggles so I couldn't root for the Giants). I grew up being shaped by all the momentous issues of the Sixties. I went from being a kid who watched John Wayne fight Injuns, Japs, and Nazis, and wanting to be a Marine, to a young adult who finally saw through all the hypocrisy and lies our government and media told us, and was ready to go to Canada if my draft # hadn't been as high as it was (214 - I still remember it to this day). And Joe Willie was one of the faces of that awakening. As I watched him and the other AFL stars like Lamonica, Dawson, Hadl, sling the ball at will, I didn't care which league had the "better" football. I still enjoyed watching the Packers and liked Lombardi's ability to beat teams that were supposedly better than his, but it was Namath and the Jets who I really loved, and like love you don't compare the object of your love with anything else, you just love them/it. So I wasn't surprised when the Packers easily beat the Raiders and then the Chiefs in the first two SBs. And I have to admit that I was actually happy that they beat the two biggest rivals of the Jets. But when it came time for the Jets to play the Colts I was definitely afraid that the "unbeatable" Colts would do the same to the Jets. I was amused, but not reassured, that Namath guaranteed a win. I thought he was "poking the bear". After all, the Colts had easily beaten almost every team they faced, and the Jets barely beat the Raiders to get to the championship. I was watching the game in my big sister's room on her B&W tv. She was watching, but I don't know why since she had never really shown much interest in football...probably she was more interested in Namath. LOL. I was on pins and needles and almost sick to my stomach at what was about to happen. But then as the game wore on the Jets kept stopping Earl Morrall and Namath was methodically carving up the "impregnable" Colts defense, I began to have hope...at least the Jets wouldn't be crushed. When both teams came out for the second half I fully expected Shula to have made the adjustments needed for the Colts to finally take charge and the inevitable to happen, but it didn't. The Jets kept stopping the Colts offense and Namath kept the Jets offense eating up the clock. And then Unitas came in. Oh shit! Now here it comes. My young Jets fan heart had already been broken many times before. It still hadn't fully recovered from the Heidi Bowl (and honestly still hasn't), so this had all the makings of another heartbreak. I began preparing the rationales in my mind for their eventual loss: "At least they kept it close". "They did better than the Raiders and Chiefs". "The NFL is just a stronger league", etc. But while I was doing all that, the clock kept ticking down and the great Johnny U couldn't do much more than Morrall did. The weight of the tension became inversely proportional to the number of minutes and seconds left. I couldn't bear to watch but I did. And then it was over! The Jets had won! The Jets had won! I was screaming and jumping up and down with my sister, and my mother shouted up the stairs "What's all the racket?" 'The Jets won! The Jets won!", and she said, "Well try to keep it down". The Jets victory paved the way to the AFL being merged into the NFL, and I thought that the Jets would go on to become one of the great NFL franchises, using their blueprint of a high flying offense and strong defense. But instead, they somehow seemed to give up on that formula and for the next 50+ years have followed the old NFL philosophy of conservative football. At the risk of opening up a political can of worms, what the Sixties Jets were to the anti-establishment culture, the later versions of the Jets echoed the turn to conservative culture. And even when our culture turned more liberal at times, the Jets seemed to hold fast in their conservative mindset. I should've ditched them decades ago.
I was 23 and a big Jet fan. Went to all the home games, $5 for standing room. Hoping for another SB before too much longer. Only one other comment before next season. Bring back Sam Darnold as a backup next season. Believe it or not he is still only 26. Players improve.
I was 30. Just finished my post grad degrees. Waiting till February to go bum around Europe for however long. Man, i was sky high after game. I consider myself a very lucky person. Military didn't want me cause of injury. Bummed around Europe for months. Met future wife there. Got to see mets win. knicks almost win. Armstrong take step. Here i am 4 gradkids later and still waiting for a 69 repeat. Hahaha.
Yeah, me too. I could be prosecuted for child abuse! Fortunately my daughter prefers soccer to football!
I think they race at Indianapolis motor speedway. That would be wild to see given the length of the straightaways and how much speed could be generated before the turns
