The day after the Orange Bowl game, Joe and the Jets held a news conference to announce his three-year $427,000 signing deal. The next week, fans purchased 2,800 season tickets proving that Sonny Werblin knew how to assess box-office appeal.
Joe arrived in New York to find his name in the gossip columns as much as it was in the sports columns. With his contract money he was able to rent an apartment in a posh section of town and spend $25,000 decorating it. After visiting the local clubs in the company of pretty young ladies, Joe soon earned the nickname "Broadway Joe."
The question was: Could he play football? Surgery performed the winter before his rookie year was deemed a success. In the preseason, Jets' head coach Weeb Ewbank was pleased with Joe's progress, but he didn't want to rush him along. Joe sat out the Jets' season opener in Houston as starting quarterback, Mike Taliaferro hit just 4 of 22 passes in a loss.
The next week, a record crowd of 53,658 turned up at Shea Stadium
for the Jets' home opener, anxious to see if Namath would play.
When Taliaferro was unable to move the team in the second period,
Joe ran onto the field wearing his white shoes. Joe hit wide
receiver Don Maynard on his first professional pass. He ended the
day 11 of 23 for 121 yards. But, it wasn't enough as the Jets lost 14-10.
Joe ended his rookie season with the Jets 5-8-1, second place in their division. The five wins came in the last eight games, as Joe was beginning to mesh with his receivers.
In 1966, his second season, he became one of the most dominant quarterbacks in football. He had complete control of his offense, calling virtually all of the plays. Joe led the league in attempts with 471, completions (232), yards (3,379), and touchdowns (19). While the Jets improved their record to 6-6-2, they ended the year in third place.
Joe had become used to playing with pain in his knee. At least
once a week, the knee was drained of excess fluid. After the last
game of the season, Joe took his knee in to the doctors for
extensive testing. It was discovered that Joe had torn a cartilage
in the knee early in the season, thus, he played much of the season
on a shredded knee. Surgery was scheduled immediately, and was
declared a success.
Joe began the 1967 season with reasonably good knees (held intact by a clumsy brace which he had to wear each game). The season of 1967 proved to be a landmark year for Joe and for the American Football League. Again, Joe finished the season with record numbers: 491 attempts, 258 completions, 4,007 yards, and 26 touchdowns. The Jets finished in second place with a record of 8-5-1.
Sportswriters and players from both the AFL and the NFL were taking
notice of Namath's tremendous numbers. He was proving to be not
just a great "arm" but also a team leader. By the 1968 season, the
team had acquired the talented players they needed. The team
started to play well as a unit. This was the team that would go on
to win Super Bowl III.
Joe spent 12 seasons with the New York Jets. He ended his career after one season with the Los Angeles Rams. See Joe's Career Highlights.
Go to Jets Facts for more Jets information.
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