Joe Namath

[Go Coogs']

Why is this guy in the Hall of Fame? Seriously, this dude makes one bold statement and passes for 4000 yards one season and gets the nod in Canton? I don't get it.

Let me break it down. The year the Jets won the Superbowl they beat the heavily favored Colts. Earl Morrall was having a career year. The Colts averaged 28 points per game the entire season and were held to 16 points against the Packers for their lowest single game output.

In the Super Bowl Namath threw for 200/0/0. He did put together some long drives and kept the Colts high powered offense off the field, but I don't recall Namath picking off Morrall and Unitas 4 times. I don't recall Namath holding the Colts to their lowest output of 7 points. He helped win the Super Bowl, but he wasn't the MVP in my mind.

He was a career 50% and threw 173 TDs to 220 Ints. He was 64-64-4 as a starter. I know comparing eras for QBs is damn near impossible, but lets compare his numbers to Johnny U and Sonny Jurgenson. Both those guys had more yards better completion percentage and better TD/INT ratios.

Even if you compare Namath to today's QBs I think he would've been a middle of the road QB like Matt Schaub, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brad Johnson, Mark Brunell, etc...

Am I missing something here or is the nostalgia off the charts for Namath?

[Goober McTuber]

Take this to the Re-hashing The Same Old Thread For The 67th Time forum. Along with every abortion thread you can find.

[Go Coogs']

Take this to the Re-hashing The Same Old Thread For The 67th Time forum. Along with every abortion thread you can find.

I know we've covered Elway and others as who the greatest QB is of all time, but didn't know Namath had been covered ad nauseum.

[Goober McTuber]

Take this to the Re-hashing The Same Old Thread For The 67th Time forum. Along with every abortion thread you can find.

I know we've covered Elway and others as who the greatest QB is of all time, but didn't know Namath had been covered ad nauseum.

His election to the Hall has been a regular thread topic on numerous boards since 1985. He was the first really big name to sign with the AFL during the AFL-NFL bidding wars of the 1960s and thus may be considered to have had a part in forcing the merger. He was a media darling in New York, and when he guaranteed a Super Bowl win and delivered (yes, with plenty of help), it went a long way toward validating the AFL as competitive.

Based on his football accomplishments, he has no busines being in the Hall.

John Elway was the greatest quarterback ever. In Denver.

[Mikey]

John Elway was the greatest quarterback ever. In Denver. Before last Sunday.

ftfy

[Go Coogs']

Maybe not. I'm thinking his completion pct would've been around 55-56% and the only way he would've played a long career today was playing on a balanced offense. QBs who throw that low of a completion percentage nowadays aren't slinging it all over the field and they aren't mainstays on the team either.

[BSmack]

Maybe not. I'm thinking his completion pct would've been around 55-56% and the only way he would've played a long career today was playing on a balanced offense. QBs who throw that low of a completion percentage nowadays aren't slinging it all over the field and they aren't mainstays on the team either.

Two things. One, it is the Hall of FAME, not the hall of statistics. Two, He's JOE FUCKING NAMATH. Super Bowl III alone gives him lifetime cred.

[Go Coogs']

Two things. One, it is the Hall of FAME, not the hall of statistics. Two, He's JOE FUCKING NAMATH. Super Bowl III alone gives him lifetime cred.

That is supposed convince me how?

[BSmack]

Two things. One, it is the Hall of FAME, not the hall of statistics. Two, He's JOE FUCKING NAMATH. Super Bowl III alone gives him lifetime cred.

That is supposed convince me how?

I guess you just had to be alive at the time. I'll tell you what. You want to know how big a deal that 400 yard season was? Go to pro Football Reference sometime and spreadsheet all the 4,000 guys EVER. Then sort the list by YEAR.

Notice who comes first? It wasn't until 12 years later, after the game was first loosened up to favor passing, that somebody topped Namath's mark.

Please try to let that sink in before you reply again.

[poptart]

If I had a vote, I wouldn't give it to Namath.

That said, he was legitimately great for a couple/few seasons - and he was a FEARED player.
And with very good reason.

In those prime years, he could get the ball DOWNFIELD like nobody's business.

The vertical game. :)


New York.
The puffed up guarantee.
The bigger than life persona.
The legend.
yada yada...

He is a player with historic significance, but he prolly shouldn't have been voted in to the HoF.

[Felix]

The bigger than life persona.
The legend.
yada yada...

He is a player with historic significance, but he prolly shouldn't have been voted in to the HoF.

yeah it's amazing that somebody like Namath makes it in, while somebody like Jerry Kramer is continually shut out

a member of the NFL's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and the only person on that anniversary team not in the hall of fame....the HoF election committee should be ashamed of themselves

[Go Coogs']

I guess you just had to be alive at the time. I'll tell you what. You want to know how big a deal that 400 yard season was? Go to pro Football Reference sometime and spreadsheet all the 4,000 guys EVER. Then sort the list by YEAR.

Notice who comes first? It wasn't until 12 years later, after the game was first loosened up to favor passing, that somebody topped Namath's mark.

Please try to let that sink in before you reply again.

That is an amazing feat for his time, but the HoF is about what you do/did over the long haul. Are you telling me body of work is extended to a pair of brass balls for predicting a win and him being an integral part of the merger? To me, that isn't enough.

He was inducted as a football player which means his play on the field carries more weight than anything else. His play is highlighted by a couple of outstanding years in yards passing and TDs and one ring. He threw a shit ton of picks and wasn't the most accurate passer either.

It's the Hall of Fame, not the Hall of Famous.

[mvscal]

Sorry, but Namath blows goats. His career 65.5 passer rating means he shouldn't be anywhere near the HoF except as a paying guest.

[mvscal]

Speaking of career passer rating:

Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw: 70.9

Totally different offense, though. Bradshaw's job was to hand off to Franco Harris and occasionally heave huge bombs downfield to Swann or Stallworth. It's a low percentage game.

[Terry in Crapchester]

Not to mention that passer rating is a completely useless stat to measure QB's unless you are comparing QB's of the same era. Rule changes since Namath played have opened up the passing game considerably. I'm not saying that Namath belongs in the HoF based on what he did on the football field, but anyone who thinks he would've been a 50% career passer if he played today is way, way off.

[Go Coogs']

I said he'd be a 56% career passer in today's era. Jurgenson and Unitas would be in the 60s. If Namath was a 56% career passer today, he wouldn't be a long time starter in the league.

[Goober McTuber]

I said he'd be a 56% career passer in today's era. Jurgenson and Unitas would be in the 60s.

Hard to say for sure. It was a different game then. Namath didn’t get to throw dink and dunks to jack up his percentage, it was much more vertical game, though he had an excellent pair of receivers in Don Maynard and George Sauer. Matt Snell wasn’t bad out of the backfield.

Bear Bryant said he was the best athlete he ever coached (he was said to have dunked often in high school basketball). Don Shula said he was one of the 3 smartest quarterbacks of all time, and he had the fastest release of any QB in the NFL at the time.

He suffered a serious knee injury in his senior year at Alabama, and he was plagued with knee injuries through much of his career and underwent four pioneering knee operations by Dr. James A. Nicholas. So if he were playing today, he may have had much better results surgically.

He also gave me the motto I still live by: I can’t wait till tomorrow, ‘cause I get better-looking every day.

[poptart]

I said he'd be a 56% career passer in today's era. Jurgenson and Unitas would be in the 60s. If Namath was a 56% career passer today, he wouldn't be a long time starter in the league.

I think Namath would have been higher than that.

He was a career 50% passer.

But Hall of Fame control passers of that era were only in the mid-50% range.

Unitas: 54%
Starr: 57%
Griese: 56%

Those guys would be in the low to mid 60% range today - and Namath would be around 60% (or better), imo.

He could friggin ---> SLING it, baby.

[OCmike]

Another big factor in Namath being elected is the baby boomer who elevated him to God status because they're all convinced that everyone and everything that happened in the 60's was the best ever: Music, Movies, Kennedy, space race, summer of love, MLB, NFL, CFB, etc, etc, etc. Yes, there was certainly plenty of excellence in that decade, but plenty of suckitude as well.

[Joe in PB]

In those prime years, he could get the ball DOWNFIELD like nobody's business.

New York.
The puffed up guarantee.
The bigger than life persona.
The legend.
yada yada...

He is a player with historic significance, but he prolly shouldn't have been voted in to the HoF.

Agreed, I have a feeling if Stabler had played in NY & Namath in Oakland, Stabler would be in the Hall & Namath would not.

[Mace]

......he'd be sacked 20 times a game nowadays.

No doubt about it. Hell, he's damn near 70 years old now.

[Goober McTuber]

Another big factor in Namath being elected is the baby boomer who elevated him to God status because they're all convinced that everyone and everything that happened in the 60's was the best ever: Music, Movies, Kennedy, space race, summer of love, MLB, NFL, CFB, etc, etc, etc. Yes, there was certainly plenty of excellence in that decade, but plenty of suckitude as well.

Blasphemy.

[R-Jack]

I have a feeling if Stabler had played in NY & Namath in Oakland, Stabler would be in the Hall & Namath would not.

This
Hell it even holds true today. Stabler is racking up DUIs at a rate that would make Michael Truner blush and has wiskey dicked all his money away. Joe just had a couple of schnapps before hitting the field and tried to get his mack on with Suzy Kolber. Since it was on TV, Broadway Joe got all the run.

I have a feeling if Sabler was getting overserved in NY and Namath in Alabama, Stabler would be the drunken laughingstock & Namath would not.

[OCmike]

Another big factor in Namath being elected is the baby boomer who elevated him to God status because they're all convinced that everyone and everything that happened in the 60's was the best ever: Music, Movies, Kennedy, space race, summer of love, MLB, NFL, CFB, etc, etc, etc. Yes, there was certainly plenty of excellence in that decade, but plenty of suckitude as well.

Blasphemy.

2st.

We may have to send the Expendables to take Mike out.

I had to listen to 18 years of that shit growing up. If I talked about a good team in college basketball, I was immediately reminded they'd never touch UCLA's championships. If I mentioned I heard someone give a great speech, they were no MLK. Et-fucking-cetera.

Dad, seriously...I GET IT ALREADY.

[R-Jack]

Don't know if that is going to translate for me, since my point of reference will be the '80s.

Outside of Michael Jordan and Rickey Henderson, I may not have a credible comeback.