Time Magazine October 16th 1972- Joe Namath’s Cover Story

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Let’s take a trip back to October 16th of 1972. Maybe at this point you were a proud Jets fan because the name “Mark Sanchez” and the phrase “losing team” weren't in your vocab. You opened the mail box that afternoon and saw your favorite quarterback on the cover of Time Magazine. Let’s take a flashback and remember Joe Namath.

Joe Namath (nicknamed “Broadway Joe” or “Joe Willie”), played for the New York Jets for most of his professional career but finished his career with the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams. He’s considered by many as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Namath retired after playing in 143 career games with 68 wins, 71 losses and 4 ties, in his 132 career starts he was 64-64-4, and he was 4-7 coming off the bench in relief. In his career he threw 173 touchdowns, 220 interceptions, and completed 1,886 passes for 27,663 yards.

During his thirteen years in the AFL and NFL he played for three division champions (the 1968 and 1969 AFL East Champion Jets and the 1977 NFC West Champion Rams), earned one league championship (1968 AFL Championship), and one Super Bowl victory (Super Bowl III).”

Namath was the game’s first true media superstar. Namath threw for 4,000 yards under old rules that gave much less protection to both the quarterback and receivers.

Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh stated that Namath was “the most beautiful, accurate, stylish passer with the quickest release I’ve ever seen.” Hall of Fame coach Don Shula stated that Namath was “one of the 3 smartest quarterbacks of all time.”

In New York we wish we could have a quarterback like Namath every Sunday.