Great post--didn't see this. And I agree fully on being unable to compare the likes of DiMaggio and Williams and The Rocket and Hull and Russell and Chamberlain--because I LOVED Chamberlain as a kid but I never really saw Russell. Without having seen them--how would you know other than using the opinions of others? Scouring the internet for articles in order to devise dozens of reasons to dump on Namath does not make sense to me--there has to be something else there. _
I see your not answering my question. Again why would us people who did not see him play bash him? Plus show me where we bashed him?
I watched a bunch of clips of Namath. I don't care if your 14 years old...if you have any sense of football, then it's plain to see that Joe Willy was fucking awesome. I was lucky enough to live through the whole entire era. It was great. The Jets were a two-bit team in the greatest city in the world, and all of a sudden we were world champs. Magic to me. I was also lucky enough to meet and work with the man. It was great...a definite highlight in my small miserable life. Anyone who pisses on his legacy deserves that promised swift kick in the ass. It's just the way I feel.
I said I wouldn't play the stats and numbers game, but here it is: Namath played from 65-69 in the 60's. Back then, only two teams made the playoffs from the AFC - the winner of each division (except 69, when 2nd place teams were added as wildcards, but the Jets won the East anyway). In that five year span Namath was 40-22-4. And in 72 and 74 he was 14-14. In 1970 he was 1-3 before he got hurt. And in 71 he was 1-2 when he came back. So from 1965 through 1974, he was 56-41-4. Plus he was 2-1 in postseason. Make that 56-42-4. Namath did not have a losing season until 1975, when the Jets were among the worst teams in football. 64% winning percentage translates into 10 wins a year in a 16 game schedule. He made the playoffs 2 of his first five seasons and probably would have made them in 70 and 71 also. The 70 and 71 Jet defenses were very good and Namath lost two years of his prime to injury. In today's format, with wild cards and multiple playoff teams, the Jets would have made the playoffs in 67 also. So by today's standards, he won 10 games a year and would have made the playoffs three year's in a row, he won a SB against incredible odds, and lost his two best years to injury AFL All Star 1965-1969 All-time AFL QB, 1969 AFL Player of the Year 1968, All AFL-NFL team NFL All Pro 1972 I guess his contemporaries thought he was pretty good. He was All-AFL 5 times and All-Pro in 1972 after the merger in the first year he was not hurt. He put up great numbers. He led the league in passing yards 3 times and was second once. He ranked as one of the top three QBs in the league in QB ratings in all but 1966. The 1968 season earned him the Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Jets' all-time team, the All-Time All-AFL Team and the American Football League Hall of Fame. Not many QBs in his day had more passing yards than Namath. And Namath threw for 4000 yards in a 14 game season when 3000 yards was a big year. Also, remember that contact by DBs was legal, which made a big difference. Consider this – 1966 – Led AFL in Attempts, Completions, Yards, First Downs Passing and Fewest Sacks 1967 – Led AFL in Attempts, Completions, Yards (4007 – a record that held up for 12 years and took a 16 game schedule to break – he led the AFL in passing by 700 yards), First Downs Passing 1968 Won Super Bowl 1972 Led NFL in Yards Passing, TD Passes and Fewest Sacks 1974 2nd in AFC in Yards Passing by 51 yards. When looking at stats, you just can't compare QBs of today and their numbers with his. Think about this - remember how hard it was for teams to pass against the Pats at the end of the 2004 season? Remember how physical their DBs were against other team's WRs? Well, in Namath's era, contact between a DB and WR was legal!!! When the bump and run was taken away and pass interference liberalized and holding rules relaxed and in the grasp came into play, and safe offenses like the WCO were developed. Plus Namath and his contemporaries called their own plays. Today's QB's don't have to call their own plays because 8 guys in the booth call the game for them etc. etc. it made passing the football a lot easier. To illustrate my point about the game being different - Namath typically averaged 8 or more yards per attempt and 16-17+ yards per completion. Today's QBs typically average 6-7 yards per attempt and is among the best in the league. They average 11-12 yards per completion and 13 is extraordinary. In the 60's and early 70's teams threw for about 2500 yards a year on average and averaged about 20-22 TD passes a year and 25+ picks a year. The average YPA was about 7 while Namath was at 8. The average YPC was 13 and Namath was continually above 16. His Int % was below league average in most seasons. Compare that to the pinball passing stats of today's players. I could go on and on. Start looking at passing attempts per game, sacks per game and the like and Namath shines compared to his contemporaries. Some of you can cherry pick stats like TD to INT ratio over a career and passing % and elevate players like Dawson, but Dawson was a completely different QB. He played in an offense that resembled the WCO of today. Namath was a downfield passer. If you want more, read the article at the beginning of this thread or Bill Barnwell's article on Namath. Football is a complicated, complex sport that does not always lend itself to stats. It is the ultimate team sport. So when some of you look only at TD to INT numbers or completion % numbers you are missing 80% of the story and the stats. And when you don't consider the era he played in and compare his accomplishments and stats to all QBs of the day, not just a stat for one QB here and another stat for another QB there, you see how great he was. And then when you consider the most important fact of all - the accolades and awards he won at the time - given to him by the experts and peers AT THAT TIME, you realize that he was considered one of the best if not the best QB in the game from 67-72. That's enough for me, and it should be enough for you youngsters how don't have the perspective to look at his career through the proper prism and not through the prism of football from the 80s to today. That's my last post on this issue.
Why would anybody do it at a place like that? Then again on second thought. Let's say me and Jstokes did meet there to settle something. It wouldn't last long it would take 2 hits. Me hitting him and him hitting the ground. Then I would be long gone before the man showed up. Lol
