POOLSIDE GUARANTEE: Broadway Joe Defies the Odds in Super Bowl Three

By Richard J. Noyes


One story has it that Joe Namath found a blonde in his hotel room the night before the big game. And was high-living Joe lounging by the pool when he famously guaranteed that the New York Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts? What we do know is that Namath had to go out on the Sunday of Super Bowl 111 in 1968 and quarterback the upstart AFL Jets against the powerful and heavily favored NFL Colts.

The Jets intercepted four passes and otherwise neutralized the Colts offense. Joe Namath used his accurate, howitzer arm to complete a volley of passes with many to the agile and sticky-fingered George Sauer, while mixing in a solid running game led by the crunching Matt Snell. Result: Jets won 16-7 in the most surprising upset in Super Bowl history, and the image of the American Football Conference as a second-class division of the NFL was erased.

The impression of Broadway Joe jogging off the field at game’s end with his forefinger high and wagging number one is indelible. As Dizzy Dean said, “If you can do it, it ain’t braggin’.”

PUTTING YOUR MONEY. A year earlier, in 1967, Joe Namath became the first quarterback to pass for more than 4,000 yards in one season. He capped off 1968 as AFL Player of the Year and a unanimous all-Pro selection, along with MVP honors in Super Bowl III. Namath's pre-game "guarantee" of victory backed up by his 206-yard passing production was a major factor in assuring the competitive viability of the AFC-NFC Super Bowl series.³²

In addition to his estimable skills, Joe Namath was a stand up football player who took destructive hits and played much of his career on damaged knees. Namath once said, “The name of the game is kill the quarterback.”

SOURCE:
32 Courtesy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=161,
available as of 4/9/05

This story was excerpted from GUS IN THE CLUTCH: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks and Wild Finishes in 12 Sports with a Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN. (Amazon print and e-Book. Nook and Google e-Books.)