Class and respectability, a couple of years ago he was drunk on air when he said to Susie Kolber “I would like to kiss you right now”. He’s an overrated buffoon, always has been and always will be!!

Suzy Kolber would agree with you on that.

It was 17 years ago. Time flies when you're a drunken buffoon.


https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1574173699303241

Joe's battle with alcoholism has been pretty well documented. The HBO special on him a few years ago was one of the best I've seen. He was my favorite QB growing up and injuries took a huge toll on his career and his stats. The couple seasons he was healthy 1968-69 he was among the best of his era. Should he be in HOF is questionable but he was sure entertaining even when he played on some lousy teams.

While I respect your opinion, Joe Namath in the hall of fame is not questionable, he doesn't belong there. Nobody, and I mean nobody with his terrible stats is in the hall of fame. He and his Jets only scored 16 points in that Super Bowl game. Morrall was terrible and Shula fucked up by not putting Unitas in earlier. Maybe he was in on the fix too.

Nameth belongs in the Hall because he legitimized the AFL. He helped, and did it in a big way if you were alive back then, make possible the two leagues combining. Until the Jets won the Super Bowl it wasn't even the Super Bowl. We NFL types thought that the AFL was the equivalent of a minor league. A joke. NFL fans laughed at the AFL. Then they won two in a row. But the first is always the most important and Nameth was the story of the first. He was an incredibly culturally influential player who helped make a lot of money for a lot of people. I hated him though for how he made me feel that Sunday and was pissed when he was elected. I get it now.

Alcoholism in the league is rampant and one of the dirty secrets the NFL doesn’t talk about. Still, being an addict doesn’t excuse you from bad behavior. Ultimately we are all responsible for how we act.

I'll grudgingly add this, as I hated the result that Sunday too.

It is the Hall of FAME, and not the Hall of Great Career Stats. And there is no argument to be made against the fact that Namath was/is famous, and considered a big deal in his era.

o


While Namath's overall stats were certainly sub-par, the era that he played in also needs to be taken into consideration when doing so. Ken Stabler had 194 TD passes and 222 INT's, and he was the beneficiary of standing behind one of the greatest offensive lines of all time for 8 seasons between 1972 and 1979 before being traded to the Oilers in 1980. He also played more of his career after the rules were altered to significantly help quarterbacks and their receivers than Namath did (in 1974, 1977, and 1978 the 3 biggest rule changes were made in regard to allowing defenders to bump receivers before the ball was in the air) ...... Stabler's last full season as a starting quarterbacks was 1983, while Namath's last full season as a starting quarterback was 1976.

Even Johnny Unitas, who some would argue was the greatest quarterback of all-time, had what we would now view as pedestrian career stats with 290 TD passes, 253 INT's, and a 54.6% Completion Percentage ........ if Carson Wentz has that kind of season in 2021 (21 TD passes, 18 INT's, and a 54.6% Completion Percentage), televisions sets all over the greater Indianapolis area will be broken by enraged Colts fans.



So while one can argue one way or the other in regard to whether or not Namath deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame, his sup-par stats (173 TD Passes, 220 INT's, and a 50.1% Completion Percentage) need to viewed in the proper context of the era in which he played in (1965 through 1976 for the Jets, and 4 games with the Rams in 1977.)

o