Why Do We Care About Joe Namath?

My Dad has always had an interest in financial investing. As a result of subscribing to a variety of financial magazines, he would also receive junk mail related to them. When I was in elementary school, he once received a VHS tape from a company named S&K. God knows what S&K was doing or trying to sell, but we figured it would be entertaining to watch what they had to say. We watched the instructional video, and I don't remember at all what S&K's angle was, but my Dad told me that it was all a scheme. From that young age, I understood how certain “businesses” look to get money out of innocent individuals. Who was the pitchman in S&K’s video? Joe Namath. 

By that point, I knew that Joe Namath was a famous quarterback. I knew that he made a guarantee to win a Super Bowl as a huge underdog and backed up that guarantee. But, beyond that, what else was there to know? From the S&K video, all I really knew now was that Namath was either a sleazy guy, a retired player desperate to get money one way or the other, or both.

So, when Namath appeared in yesterday’s Super Bowl XLVIII, he was being the oddball “Broadway Joe” that I’ve known for my entire life. He showed up in an insane fur coat. He botched the coin toss. He seemed to half-jokingly stare down the referee after his mistake. He then did the coin toss. Of course, social media erupted ripping into Namath for his coat, his coin toss mistake, and poking fun at his openly admitted battle with alcoholism. But, for me, it led to a bigger question. Why do we care about Joe Namath? Why does the NFL keep putting this guy out in public when he clearly doesn’t belong there anymore?

It seems to come from a history that is more lore and personality than football numbers. I obviously never saw Joe Namath play live, but his colleagues at the time described him as smart and that he transformed the quarterback position. But, even playing in a time that was run heavy, Namath's numbers are unimpressive. He threw 173 touchdowns compared to 220 interceptions with a 50.1 completion percentage. Even during their Super Bowl year, he had 15 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Namath was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985. In what has now become a statistic obsessed culture particularly when determining who gets into the Hall of Fame, Namath would have no shot today.

But, Namath was an icon. He was attractive and had great personality. His guarantee of winning Super Bowl III has become a legendary story. His post-playing days found him acting and doing commercials. He had crossed over into the landscape of pop culture.

As I mentioned though, if you were born in the mid-1980s or later like I was, the obsession with Joe Namath is a little weird to you. With my experience with S&K, Namath didn't exactly come off as the most trustworthy or knowledgeable guy.

Then, of course, there was this moment:

I watched this live, and it was just as awkward as it is to watch it now. In the wake of it, you could laugh at it. Namath was clearly drunk, and the announcers were trying to cover it up in their own hilarious way. But, it actually proved sad when Namath revealed his problem with alcoholism. Additionally, the moment downgraded the abilities of Suzy Kolber from a knowledgeable sideline reporter to just a cute girl worth kissing. It's been over ten years, and Kolber's career is still remembered most for this awkward moment. “Broadway Joe” now just seemed like a creepy old man.

As a result, Namath hasn't truly moved on from it, which was what made the coin toss so awkward again. The number of easy jokes on social media related to Namath's alcoholism were endless. Namath now feels like an old, bumbling fool rather than an icon. To some it's a joke, but to me, it just seems sad. If Namath is having fun doing it, then all power to him, but for some of us (especially Phil Simms below) it feels like Joe has been making us feel uncomfortable for a long time now.

 Phil with a comfortable smile.

Apparently, Phil has dealt with this before.

There's a reason Namath was at The Super Bowl in New York. He's the icon for Jets fans. No one else comes close in their long history. He's immortal to the fans of a team in the biggest market in America (there are similarities to Bernie Kosar and Cleveland on a smaller level). So, it makes sense. But, I think we still have to acknowledge for all the history that Joe Namath brought to football and pop culture for 25 years, he's managed to make it very weird and uncomfortable for the ensuing 25.

Here's apparently Joe's version of S&K for 2013. I'd also like to add that some of my stand-up comedy clips have more views than this. Seriously, what is Joe Namath doing here?