Happy Birthday, Broadway Joe!
Posted on May 31st, 2009 by Angel Navedo
Joe Willie Namath is celebrating his 66th birthday today, so that should call for some kind of TJB celebration, shouldn’t it? Since it’s his day, what’s more appropriate than recalling some of our favorite memories of Namath throughout the years?
Drop some comments on your most memorable moments of all things Namath. I’m talking great games, funny commercials, and I guess the Monday Night Football thing, too.
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Kissing Suzy ofcourse! That might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.
Man so that’s what Superbowl commercial looked like 40 years ago, thank god I didn’t live to see that
and many, many more.
and youre right ed, that was the best Namath moment
Pantyhose. And vaporlock.
Happy birthday Joe. I’ll always lament the year they gave you the receivers you needed to win the Super Bowl. God bless good management.
You lament the Jets super bowl victory? What exactly are you doing on this web site?
I was on the field at Shea before the Jets beat the Raiders for the AFL championship on the way to the Super Bowl. All of a sudden, Joe grabbed me and pulled me away from the path of a practicing receiver. I always thought that was a kind deed by Namath, looking out for me. 40 years later, I now think Joe was protecting his receiver from running into this jerk who was not paying attention to the dangers of high speed warm ups. I still feel personally thankful to Joe: I’ll take a touch, a handshake, over an autograph any day. Autographs are scalps, proof to others. Spontaneous moments are personal and last as long as memory lasts.
let noxema cream your face?…….pause
im so glad im an 80’s baby
Happy Birthday Joe !!! Hope for many many more.
Well, I never had the chance to meet him, but like SS2, I’ve always been a handshake guy, too.
I do have one memory of a TV spot, though, I think it was during the Parcells years. Just prior to the start of the game, I think Jim Nantz was one of the broadcasters, and the Jets are playing, I think it was at the start of the 2nd half.
the broadcaster tells the viewers that Joe Namath is here, brings him in, and after the usual intro’s I can see the Jets get a first down. Joe Willie, in the middle of talking with the Broadcaster, does a little jump and a WHOOP, pumps his fist in the air with a Go JETS! gesture, and that big smile of his fills my TV screen. The ‘caster, plainly taken a bit out of his schtick, defaulted to his neutral ‘caster role, but Joe was irrepressible.
That was way cool; you could see the kid still in him, and you could see the love for the green’n'white. And that love will never die, he’ll always be a Jet.
So, in the ways that matter the most, Joe Willie is just like me!
T I M
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Hey Joe,
Happy Birthday!
Thanks for the memories….
Happy Belated Birthday, Joe!
Thanks for the memory, SS2, those are the moments and stories that make any board worthwhile…
For those who missed those years, you just have no idea what Joe brought to NYC when he came to town. Fanchez has Jets fans excited, yes, but Joe LIT UP THE CITY!
This was long before the ‘69 Mets did so in the same manner. But Joe did it first — because Joe had Sonny Werblin. Jets owner Sonny Werblin was a master showman, had recently bought the Titans/Jets, needed to make a splash fast, and he knew exactly how best to exploit his new toy, Namath. Most folks forget that the Jets also drafted John Huarte of Notre Dame (who only won that year’s Heisman in an era when the Heisman winner was consistently deified and held up to be the ultimate warrior / draft plum) to set off a media storm that ESPN can’t touch. Of course, Werblin knew who his star was going to be, but most folks didn’t know Namath all that well. Werblin used Huarte as the hook, knowing that Namath would beat his brains in during camp, which is what happened. Werblin made certain that every step Joe took over John, that it was plastered all over every crevice of this city (”OMG!!! Namath is beating out THE HEISMAN TROPHY WINNER!!! HOW GREAT MUST NAMATH BE???!!!”). Like that. Huarte was certain he was going to be the next great QB star, and he never knew what hit him.
Today, Huarte’s lucky to be a footnote rather than a football great.
Hope your day was happy yesterday, Joe!
OK, one other Joe/Jets story.
Supe III, I’m a frosh in a small college in western Maryland.
1/2 of the student body is from NY/NJ/CT area.
The other 1/2 is from the Baltimore/DC axis.
Custom made for this contest. Made for a crazy, heated year considering we also had Knick/Bullets and Mets/Orioles championships to fight over. But Jets/Colts was up first and drove the campus nuts.
We AFL fans were like your little brother — no make that your dopey little cousin who you couldn’t stand and now were forced to prove yourself against. Ick. Of course, you were the obvious better; you had just proved it two years running, and were basically embarrassed to be in this situation in the first place. You’re The NFL, fer crissakes!!!
The whole school stopped that Sunday to watch. There were practically riots in the Student Center TV room as Snell & Co. gave as good as they got, and walked off the field with Joe’s guarantee sitting firmly in their pockets.
It was so nice, being so far from home, to know that you ruled your campus in enemy territory absolutely. It was heaven to hear such torturous grumblings coming from the far corner of the cafeteria the whole rest of the term.
Ahhhh…, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets!
This guy was God-like during his playing time in New York. I think Al Davis said it best during one of his biographys. When Namath walked onto the field for your team, it just “tilted” in your favor.
M-Tali –
that is a GREAT Memory!!! Awesome!
Yep, no doubt about it… Joe, you’re “Da BEST!”
Happy birthday, peace and love and wins for the green’n'white for ya…