Joe Namath

Joe Namath went from bad-boy jock to cosmopolitan raconteur and hero of one of the greatest underdog stories in American sports as he quarterbacked the New York Jets to a stunning defeat of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Namath first garnered national attention at the helm of the University of Alabama's football team and his graduation spurred a bidding war between the National Football League and upstart American Football League. He signed with the AFL's New York Jets in 1965 and quickly became the league's poster boy, dubbed "Broadway Joe" for his flair on and off the field. Namath became the first quarterback in the history of the game to pass for 4,000-plus yards in a season. In 1969, he made good on an impromptu guarantee of victory against the Colts in the third interleague championship game as the Jets proved the younger, brasher AFL could compete with the NFL. He transcended sports as a commercial spokesperson and much-in-demand guest on the popular variety shows of the period and later starred on a short-lived sitcom, "The Waverly Wonders" (NBC, 1978). Upon his retirement in 1977, he remained active as a television guest star and icon of the sport. Namath became football's first modern superstar, leaving a legacy not just with his play but with the swagger he brought to it and his broader imprint on a radically changing popular culture.