Joe was so unhappy at Tuscaloosa he considered accepting a $50,000 bonus to play baseball with the Baltimore Orioles. But Bear Bryant talked him into staying for his junior year. Bryant made him the starting quarterback for an injury-decimated team that was expected to go nowhere.
Namath started his first game for the Crimson Tide against the University of Georgia. His second pass went to Richard Williamson for a touchdown. That day, he tied a school record as he threw two more TD passes. The Tide rolled over a tough Georgia team, 35-0.
Alabama won its next seven games before losing to Georgia Tech. But the Tide bounced back and won its next game against Auburn University, and went on to beat Oklahoma University 17-0 in the Orange Bowl.
Joe had another good season his junior year, although his rushing and passing stats
were below those of his sophomore year. He hoped to have a superior game against
Miami, the last game of the regular season. But after the previous week's loss
to Auburn, Joe was seen breaking Bryant's strict training rules. (According to
rumors, he had been drinking.) Bryant confronted Joe, and Joe admitted the
transgression. In a press conference, Bryant announced he was suspending his
star for the remainder of the season.
"I knew Joe wasn't a a bad boy," Bryant later said. "I don't think he became bigheaded and felt he was above training rules. I don't think he ever was bigheaded -- just always confident, and I like that. I feel if I'd done a good job of leadership, the suspension wouldn't have happened."
Joe accepted his punishment and watched as Steve Sloan led the team to wins over Miami, and Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl.
Joe came back his senior year ready to play. In the opener against Georgia, Joe completed 16 of 21 passes for 167 yards and ran for three touchdowns in a 31-3 victory. The next week he was 10 and 20 for two touchdowns in a 33-0 drubbing of Tulane. In the third game against Vanderbilt, Joe hit 13 of 23 passes for two touchdowns to register a 24-0 shutout.
The North Carolina State University game was the one that would change Joe's life forever. Joe got off to a hot start, hitting 7 of 8 passes in the first 15 minutes. On an option play, he made a cut to his left, and his knee gave out. Trainers and doctors spent the rest of the game working on Joe's knee.
Joe managed to play out the rest of the season, but only after doctors would use long, thick needles to drain fluid from the swollen knee. On the field, Joe had little movement as a runner, and he had weak support when he set up to throw. Bad knee and all, Joe completed 64 of 100 passes for six touchdowns for the year. One week before the Orange Bowl game against the University of Texas, his knee gave out in practice. Joe was unable to start the game.
With the Crimson Tide down 14-0, Bear Bryant asked Joe if it was possible for him to play. Joe put on his helmet and trotted onto the field. Despite the pain in his knee, Joe completed 18 of 37 passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. With one minute to go the Texas defense stopped Joe's goal-line plunge to hang on to the 23-17 victory. Sportswriters who saw Joe's knee before the game, said it was one of the gutsiest performances they had ever seen.
Sonny Werblin, the former president of MCA records and owner of the AFL's New York Jets, was also impressed by Joe's Orange Bowl performance. Werblin believed that Namath could make his Jets AFL champs, and from years of dealing with music and movie stars, he knew Joe could be be more than a football player. He could be a star.
Werblin had so much faith in Namath that after a bidding war with the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals, Werblin signed Joe to the biggest contract in the history of football -- a three-year deal worth $427,000. Joe Namath was on his way to the New York Jets and into the sports history books.
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