Joseph William Namath (/ˈneɪməθ/; NAY-məth; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "Broadway Joe", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the New York Jets. Namath played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won the national championship as a senior, and was selected by the Jets first overall in the 1965 AFL draft.
During his five AFL seasons, Namath was a two-time MVP and twice led the league in passing yards, while winning one AFL championship and one Super Bowl. Both victories remain the Jets' only championships. Following the 1970 AFL–NFL merger, he joined the NFL with the Jets, where he was the league's passing yards and touchdowns leader during the 1972 season. He played in New York for seven more seasons and spent his final year as a member of the Los Angeles Rams.
Namath cemented his legacy in 1969 when he guaranteed his heavy underdog Jets would win Super Bowl III before defeating the NFL's Baltimore Colts in one of the greatest sports upsets of all time. The Super Bowl victory was the first for an AFL franchise, helping dismiss notions that its teams were inferior to the NFL's and demonstrating they would enter the merger as equals. Namath received Super Bowl MVP honors in the game, while also becoming the first quarterback to win both a college national championship and a major professional championship. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
Early life
Namath was born and raised in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. He grew up in the Lower End neighborhood of Beaver Falls. He is the son of Roman Catholic parents, Rose (née Juhász) and János "John Andrew" Namath, a steelworker, both of Hungarian descent. His Hungarian-born grandfather, András "Andrew" Németh, known as "A.J." to his family and friends, came to Ellis Island on the steamer Pannonia in 1911, and worked in the coal and steel industries of the Greater Pittsburgh area.
While growing up, Namath was close to both of his parents, who eventually divorced. Following his parents' divorce, he lived with his mother. He was the youngest of four sons, with an older adopted sister.
Namath excelled in all sports at Beaver Falls High School and was a standout quarterback in football, guard in basketball, and outfielder in baseball. In an age when dunks were uncommon in high school basketball, Namath regularly dunked in games. Namath later clarified a story about being the only white player on his high school basketball team on The James Brown Show in 2018, where he was the guest. He stated that although he was one of several white players on the team, he was the only white starter. Coached by Larry Bruno at Beaver Falls, Namath's football team won the WPIAL Class AA championship with a 9–0 record in 1960. Coach Bruno later presented Namath to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
Upon graduation from high school in 1961, he received offers from several Major League Baseball teams, including the Yankees, Indians, Reds, Pirates, and Phillies, but football prevailed. Namath told interviewers that he wanted to sign with the Pirates and play baseball like his idol, Roberto Clemente, but elected to play football because his mother wanted him to get a college education. He enrolled at the University of Alabama, but left before graduating in order to pursue a career in professional football. However, a college degree was finally conferred on Namath at age 64.
Professional football career
In 1964, despite suffering a nagging knee injury in the fourth game of his senior year at Alabama, Namath limped through the undefeated regular season to the Orange Bowl. The cartilage damage to Namath's right knee later designated him class 4-F for the military draft, a deferment from service during the Vietnam War.
In late 1964 the then still separate NFL and upstart AFL were at the height of their bidding war, and held their respective drafts on the same day, November 28. Namath was a first-round draft selection by both leagues: the St. Louis Cardinals selected him 12th overall in the 1965 NFL draft, while the Jets made him the first overall pick in the AFL draft.
When meeting with executives of the Cardinals, Namath's salary request was $200,000 and a new Lincoln Continental. While initially surprised at Namath's demands, the Cardinals told Namath they would agree to his terms only if he would sign before the Orange Bowl, which would have made Namath ineligible to play in the game. The day after the Orange Bowl, Namath elected to sign with the Jets, under the direction of Sonny Werblin, for a salary of US$427,000 over three years (a pro football record at the time). Offensive tackle Sherman Plunkett came up with the nickname "Broadway Joe" in 1965, following Namath's appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated in July.
New York Jets
In Namath's rookie season the 1965 Jets were winless in their first six games with him splitting time with second-year quarterback Mike Taliaferro. With Namath starting full-time they won five of the last eight of a fourteen-game season and Namath was named the AFL Rookie of the year.
He became the first professional quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season when he threw for 4,007 yards during a 14-game season in 1967, a record broken by Dan Fouts in a 16-game season in 1979 (4,082). Although Namath was plagued with knee injuries through much of his career and underwent four pioneering knee operations by Dr. James A. Nicholas, he was an AFL All-Star in 1965, 1967, 1968, and 1969. On some occasions, Namath had to have his knee drained at halftime so he could finish a game. Later in life, long after he left football, he underwent knee replacement surgery on both legs.
Super Bowl III
The high point of Namath's career was his performance in the Jets' 16–7 win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in January 1969, shortly before the AFL–NFL merger. The first two interleague championship games had resulted in blowout victories for the NFL's Green Bay Packers, and sports writers from NFL cities insisted the AFL would take several more years to be truly competitive. The 1968 Colts were touted as "the greatest football team in history", and former NFL star and Atlanta Falcons head coach Norm Van Brocklin ridiculed the AFL before the game, saying "I'll tell you what I think about Joe Namath on Sunday night—after he has played his first pro game."[30] Three days before the game, Namath was tired of addressing the issue in the press, and he responded to a heckler at a sports banquet in Miami with the line: "We're going to win the game. I guarantee it."
Personal life
Namath was the only athlete listed on the master list of Richard Nixon's political opponents which was made public in 1973 during the Watergate investigation, erroneously listed as playing for the New York Giants. White House Counsel John Dean claimed not to know why Namath was included on the list and suggested that it might have been a mistake. Namath addressed this on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson on July 20, 1973.
Namath dated actress and fashion model Randi Oakes, actress and lawyer Louisa Moritz, singer and songwriter Janis Joplin, and actresses Jill St. John and Raquel Welch.
While taking a voice class in 1983, Namath met Deborah Mays, who later changed her first name to May and then changed it again to Tatiana, an aspiring actress; he was 39 and she was 22. They married in 1984, with Namath claiming, "She caught my last pass." The longtime bachelor became a dedicated family man when the couple had two children, Jessica (born 1986) and Olivia (born 1991).[47] The couple divorced in 2000, with the children living in Florida with their father. In May 2007, Olivia gave birth to a daughter, Natalia. Olivia lives in California with her three kids. Namath also has three other grandchildren named John, Emerson, and Jemma, who live next to him with their mom, Jessica. Namath practices transcendental meditation and has adopted a collie/shepherd, Zoie, from a local rescue shelter. He co-owns the Lucky Shuck, a waterside restaurant overlooking the Jupiter Inlet and lighthouse.
For the early years of his marriage, Namath continued to struggle with his alcoholism until his wife warned him that he could break up his family if he continued. By 1987, Namath was able to stop his drinking, though he would relapse after his divorce in 2000.
On December 20, 2003, Namath garnered unfavorable publicity after he consumed too much alcohol during a day that was dedicated to the Jets' announcement of their All-Time team. During live ESPN coverage of the team's game, Namath was asked about then-Jets quarterback Chad Pennington and his thoughts on the difficulties of that year's team. Namath expressed confidence in Pennington, but then stated to interviewer Suzy Kolber, "I want to kiss you. I couldn't care less about the team struggling." He subsequently apologized, and several weeks later entered into an outpatient alcoholism treatment program. In 2019, Namath said he used the incident as motivation to quit alcohol, explaining "I had embarrassed my friends and family and could not escape that feeling. I haven't had a drink since."
In July 2015, Namath joined the search for two boys who disappeared during a fishing trip off the coast of Florida, and offered a $100,000 reward for the safe return of the boys. The boat was found six days later, and the search was suspended, with the two boys presumed dead.
On June 6, 2018, Namath threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field. The pitch was caught by then-Cubs manager Joe Maddon, who idolized Namath as a child. This was Namath's first time at Wrigley Field.
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- SERVES
- 8
- COOK TIME
- 55 Min
Chili and cornbread together at last! We've combined these two favorites in a casserole that is so good, no matter how full you are, you'll be saying "just one more bite!"
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 (16-ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained
- 1 (8-1/2-ounce) package corn muffin mix
- 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat oil; saute onion and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Add ground beef and brown 8 to 10 minutes, or until no pink remains; drain off excess liquid. Add remaining ingredients except muffin mix and cheese; mix well. Cover and simmer over low heat 20 to 25 minutes, or until thickened.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Spoon chili into prepared baking dish. Prepare muffin mix as directed on package; stir in cheese. Spread mixture over chili.
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- Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cornbread topping comes out clean. Cool slightly and serve.
