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 - in 1967 Namath averaged 15.5 yards per completion. Pennington averaged 11.3 yards per completion in 2002. QBs are throwing shorter, safer passes into defenses that can't touch wide receivers. It's a big, big difference.
Great posts all of them... a nice break from the Draft talk. We should always embrace the Jets history, and specifically Namath, because, frankly, people can say whatever they want about the organization in the 70's, 80's and 90's, but without Namath and also, Sonny Werblin, there IS NO NFL. There is NOT the NFL we all love today. I agree that is it tough to get a sense of Joe's brilliance or impact from watching films... I have watched a ton and really only get a sense of how fast his release was, and how strong his arm was, etc. Therefore, I STRONGLY reccomend reading NAMATH, by Mark Kriegel. Great book, a must read for any Jets fan, IMHO. I read it last season (got me through the rough times) and the book does a fantastic job of painting how tremendous Joe was, not only as a player and athlete, but as an icon, a superstar and the face of an orginization. I bought the book for my Uncle, a long time Jet fan who saw Joe play plenty, and he tore through the book in like a week... said it really captured Joe, his influence, and the time. Namath, whether you saw him play or not, is someone to always be proud of, always be proud of him being a Jet... the way guys like Ruth or Mantle are for Yankee fans who never saw him play, or, as a Mets fan, the way Seaver is. He is that big in NFL lore. Just remember, when anyone says he was "overrated", remind them that without him, literally, the NFL would not be what it is today. Period.
I've really enjoyed this thread, although I have little to add (as an oldtimer I said a lot more in a Joe Willie thread before the board crash). Besides the physical talents of the great arm and amazingly quick release, Namath's understanding of the game was unsurpassed. As others have noted, he called his own plays, but it was even more than that. Consider one example from the Super Bowl. Don Maynard was incredibly brilliant in the AFL championship game, and had always been Namath's favorite receiver. No one knew it at the time, but he got hurt in that game, and was in a real sense unavailable for the Super Bowl. Namath deliberately threw a couple of bombs to him in the SB that he knew Maynard was too hurt to catch up to, just to make the Colts think that he was still a primary target. That left single coverage for George Sauer, who torched the Colts for about 120 yards receiving. It was those kinds of things that don't get into the stats (or do, as two incomplete passes) that helped make Joe so special.
Thats it in a nutshell. Stats for this era, like any sport, cant be compared. Namath wasnt a dink and dunker...for the most part he was a gambler. When you look at old NFL films and watch QB's from that past...the films look exactly like that....the past. When you saw Namath play...he looked like a QB from a future era...his grace..his "quick deep back peddle" as Winston noted...and that release...which would make any 2006 QB wish for it. Another poster made a very good comment that in this era..for the most part...QB's called their own plays...which makes Joe a serious winner...he knew how to win...besides the ego...didnt come out against the Colts and change the gameplan so he would look good...the Jets pounded the Colts on the ground. Forget about searching for stories on him...just look for old films on him...when he went back to pass...and released...he could be throwing the ball 10 yards...or 60 yards..you couldnt tell....it was that fluid.
Thats right how many receivers did not even finish there routes. Todays rules are bs if you look at a receiver the wrong way they throw the flag. Thats why the int rates were high back then because the defenders were able to play. It was really better then it is now.
H'mm guess you have never seen the entire telecast of SB3 cause George Sauer finished the game with I think 150 or so receiving yards so that is not what I would call winning the game only on the ground.
Sorry have to disagree with you on DM as it was reported in the papers prior to SB3 that he DM pulled a calf muscle & that they were going to shoot him up with xylcaine before the game so that he could start
I think you guys have covered it all, and I do recommend reading the Kriegel bio. One tidbit I learned in that book, but not mentioned here really speaks to Namath's athleticism: One game at Alabama, Bear Bryant put Namath back at safety because of his speed and his ability to read the "developing angles on either side of the ball". Another great story in the book recounts Namath's first visit to the practice field. He shows up in his Rat Pack outfit and all the country boys are laughing and calling him names. One of the assistant coaches warns, "Coach wants him. He'll get rid of five of y'all to keep him". And then "the chain drops". "Several men are alleged to have visited Bryant atop his tower; Governor Wallace, the university president, but these sightings are difficult to confirm. More certain are the facts concerning Namath's arrival at the practice field. There is no shortage of witnesses, all of whom recount with awe the moment when Joe Namath became the first and only player to ascend Bear Bryant's legendary coaching tower." Years later, Bryant said, "If I'd known just how good he was going to be, I would've carried him up there."
Thanks I have the newspapers from the day after + a copy of NBCs actual telecast of SB3 so I think I know where I am coming from about that game.
I think one of the big problem's with Namath's "career" is that the Jets fell off the radar once the calendar turned to 1970. Because the Jets and Joe never returned to the playoffs after '69, people call him "overrated". Unfortunately, in 1972 and 1974 the Jets were a game away from getting in the playoffs. Particularly 1974, where the Jets won their final six games and were as hot as any squad. They had blown a couple of close ones early that year against some top teams, any one of which would've put them in the show with a chance to do some damage, though I don't think they would've gotten past the Steelers that year.
HMMM....caught the whole game on TV. When a team rushes the ball 44 times...I would say their game plan was to win the game on the ground. They rushed the ball twice as many times than the Colts. 44 rushing attempts is a ground game to me at least. and where in my post does it say the Jets only won the game on the ground. There you go again. The Jets thought they could beat up the Colts on the ground...and for the most part..thats what Namath did. I think it bothers you that someone else actually saw the Jets win a superbowl other than you.
Nope does not bother me in the least & if you were to do some research you would find that in the 4th qtr of the game is when the NYJs did not throw 1 pass but instead ran the ball on each & every play when we were on O to kill the clock after they went up 16-0. Go check out your copy which is why we had so many rush attempts since the Colts were a beaten bunch at that time. I would guess that over 1/4 of ALL the rush attempts were in that 4th qtr & they never scored in that period except for the FG on the 1st play of the 4th which had been positioned by a balanced attacked in the 3rd period. As they say go to the video tape to check it out.
I was 7 years old and at that game with my Father. I think he came in late in the third Q.......I can still remember the crowds roar from the minute he got off the bench to the end of the game. At that moment for a young kid he was the greatest ever!
Good. At least we agree that just over a quarter of the runs were in one quarter..which would be about equal for the game...just as I remembered it. After the first RUSHING TD (Namath threw for 0 touchdowns)by Snell...Turner kicked a couple of 30+ yard field goals..and then a short field goal in the beginning of the fourth quarter. If Im not mistaken...the last field goal was about the distance of an extra point...since the goal posts were upfront...the field goal could have been 10 yards? I could be wrong about that.
I thought you were going to say the Jets didn't really win the SB and that it was a figment of our collective imaginations. Har, I kid you. Where were you this year in the SB Anniversary thread?! As a matter of fact, where was the whole damn lot of you?! I practically had a party all by my lonesome in there. It got lost in the crash. Second year in row. Damn it. Yep.
Sorry Jay, but the stats back Champ up on this one. The Jets ran 14 plays in the 1st quarter - 6 runs, 8 passes. They ran 22 plays in the 2nd quarter - 13 runs, 9 passes. They ran 19 plays in the 3rd quarter - 8 runs, 11 passes. They ran 16 plays in the 4th quarter - all runs (the last play of the 3rd quarter was also a run). Thus, through (almost) 3 quarters they ran 54 plays, and more than half (28) were passes or pass attempts (I count sacks as passes for obvious reasons). That is a balanced attack, not specifically going to the run; in fact, Namath made a big point of saying that they were hoping that the Colts would blitz, since they knew that they could pick the Colts apart on them (on page 54 of his autobiography, "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow ... 'Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day" he says "Our plays against the Baltimore blitz worked beautifully. Every time I came up to the line of scrimmage, I thought to myself, Please let them blitz, please. And they did.") From the time at the end of the 3rd quarter that the Jets had the ball on the Baltimore 10 yard line with a 13-0 lead, they ran 17 plays, and every one was a run - that's what led to the appearance of a "run first" game plan (they had almost 40% of their runs in the 4th quarter, not about 1/4). The last FG was, in fact, 9 yards - exactly the same as an extra point.
