Namath is in the HOF because he was a dynamic deep ball passer. With his crappy completion percentage he still ranks extremely high on the all time ypa during his Jets career. He was moving the team down the field with a 50% completion percentage that QB's today who routinely throw in the mid 60's are moving their teams down the field. Namath played in an era where OL men couldn't extend their arms, the hash marks were out further, meaning you were pinned to the sideline and CB had free shots to the head on WR and QB's. He threw the ball down the field under much more difficult circumstances. Give the guy today's TE and slot recievers, the center of the field on every play and favorable rules for the passing game and he would dominate. Bradshaw is in the HOF because he was absolutely spectacular in post season games who hit bombs for TD's in critical situations to win championships. He was a spectacular player in big spots and a great deep ball passer. The Steelers were great teams but they beat great teams to win SB. He was great, beat great teams and is absolutely deserving of being in the HOF.
Biggs, RE: ypa It is arguably the best stat in which to rate QBs. Namath had a higher ypa than the following Hall of Famers- Marino, Waterfield, Griese, Baugh, Tarkenton, Layne, Moon, Bradshaw, Elway
OK, go to football reference and look at Y/C and Y/A for the Jets in Namath's era. Y/C, good but never the best in the AFL. Y/A, not as good as Y/C obviously because Namath was throwing a lot of incompletions. Everybody (by modern standards) threw the ball down the field in the late 60s/early 70s. Not just Namath. So compare him with Dawson, Griese, Tarkenton etc., who played under the same conditions, and draw your own conclusions.
Draw your own conclusions ... but then you get pissy when people have a different opinion than yours? What you mean to say is draw your own conclusions as long as we agree with you.
The West Coast Offense alone added 15% to passer's completions. The WCO took over about half the running game. Why run for 3 yards when you can pass for 3 yards? Back in the day, if you ain't slinging the ball 50 yards, you ain't passing. Imagine if today's QB's could ONLY throw the ball for 20-30-40 yards or more. No dink and dunk. No slot receiver. No TE with hands. Just two ballers on the outside running for their lives. That's what Namath played in.
I always thought Jets fans were morons, but to say Namath could not make it in today's NFL takes the cake. He would not only make it, he would dominate it. It's today's QB's who could not make it in his era. Think of all the injuries he could avoid with the current NFL rules. Come on! He is not overrated either. He is remembered for who he was. No one ever says he was the best ever. Plus, he came into the league with 2 bad knees and beasted out.
I saw almost every game Namath played. He was a great leader. A relative was in the huddle with him and he said that Joe called most of the plays at the line. Additionally, you were allowed to play defense in those days. You could bump receivers all the way down the field and the QB was not protected at all. Head slaps were permitted and the offensive linemen took a real beating. The rules changes have really changed the league and many were necessary but comparing QB's is impossible.
Good work by all who bothered to respond to the silly notion that Namath is "over-rated". There's a reason he's still the face of the franchise 45 years after SBIII. He's one of the few bright spots in Jets history as a franchise, and there's "fans" here that feel the need to disparage that? I'd understand if some fans of another team want to argue about Namath's legitimacy, but it's confounding when a fan of the Jets doesn't lionize the man. Whether they liked him off the field, NFL players & coaches of the time never doubted his ability on the field...but there's a few Jets fans that do? Eliminate Namath from Jets history and all we'd have is 53 years of misery.
Of course he called his own plays! Am I the only person old enough to remember when QBs called their own plays? Tom Landry started to change that in the late 60's when he was having the plays brought in. He even played half a season with Staubach and Morton come in on alternate plays. It wasn't until the late 70's that most QBs stopped calling their own plays. I think Jim Kelly was one of the last to actually do it. QBs now have more freedom to make calls, but the OC sends in a package and a play. Guys like Manning and Brady then have the option to run any play that can be run in that package based on the D. Not exactly calling their own plays, but enough freedom to change it up when they want.
He was basically terrible, makes me think of Rex Grossman, one of the worst Qbs to ever get to the Superbowl. Oh and Namath has his own youtube channel which basically nobody watches.
He still has a package and play sent in. He has the option to change the play at the line. But he doesn't come into the huddle and say this is what we're running. Which is what I already wrote. haha
Since I saw Dawson, Griese, Tarkenton, etc. I certainly can draw my own conclusions. None of those 3 were in the same class as Namath. I saw Tarkenton play in Yankee Stadium on several occassions, he was fun to watch but he was a different kind of circus then Namath. Griese and Dawson were both great tacticians, not even on the same planet as Namath throwing the ball. The best of the bunch on the tactical level much like Griese and Dawson was Starr who was a great QB. The guys who threw the ball down the field like Namath, Bradshaw and Jurgensen both great throwers, Bradshaw was surrounded by great talent but Bradshaw could throw with anyone. Lots of great QB's over the years. Namath mechanically was as good a pure passer as anyone in league history. Looking at his statistics is a one deminsional view into the player who was tough as nails, played in pain every day and when he had the goods around him grabed the brass ring. That's all anyone can ask of a player who the league and team used and made a fortune on. Namath belongs in the HOF because he was great and everyone who saw him play knows it.
"Best pure passer" - Vince Lombardi, HOF Coach, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins "The guy who in a single game scared me most, Namath. Him and then Bradshaw" - John Madden, HOF Coach, Oakland Raiders "Some guys can throw long...Namath can pass long" - Wilber Charles Ewbank, HOF Coach, Baltimore Colts, New York Jets "Greatest athlete I ever coached" - Paul 'Bear' Bryant, HOF Coach, Univ. of Alabama There is a film clip of Namath in the opening game of the NYJ Super Bowl season against the Chiefs in KC (20-19 Jet win) in which he effortlessly dropped back and 'flicked' a perfect bomb in stride to Maynard. Even with his creaky knees, his dropback footwork was a 'blur', the release, the predessessor to Dan Marino. A stunning "no-knees" talent who once had wheels few QB's could even dream about. Later, in the NFL, often a sitting duck who nevertheless hung tough--Namath was a football player of the first order and deserving of his place in the HOF. You obviously never saw him. I cite this quote below MURDR as it pretty much sums up your keen, clueless experienced eye: "If he's worth $400,000, then I'm worth a million." - Dr. Bill Ryan, Cleveland Browns (fine, game-manager qb..who at the end of the day couldn't carry Namath's jock)
I'm not knocking his ability to throw the ball, but he struggled with zone coverage later in his career. I know that his career was limited by injuries, but you can make the argument that lots of players would have great careers if not for injuries. Arm-wise he was amazing, but the execution wasn't always there.
Bill Walsh also said Phil Simms had the best arm he'd ever seen. I'm a Giant's fan and even I know that's crazy. I get that I'm not a Jet fan, but that doesn't mean I can't say anything negative about the Jets.
