41 Years Ago Today: The End of an Era

[Lith]

On April 1, 1977, 41 years ago today, the NY Jets waived Joe Namath.

“I just think there comes a time ... when two people are better off without each other. It came to that with Joe and us. Joe and the Jets just didn’t seem to fit together any more.”  And with those words, from Jets GM Al Ward, the Joe Namath era came to an end. 

Joe and his agent had been talking to the Rams, and after the Jets tried unsuccessfully to work out a trade, the Jets waived Namath rather than pick up his $450K option for the 1977 season. Shortly thereafter, he signed a contract with the Rams.

The Rams were coming off of a 10-3-1 season and an NFCCG appearance and thought that the veteran QB might be just what they needed to get over the hump. It didn't work out that way, as Joe started just 4 games for the Rams. He was replaced by Pat Haden after a 4 interception performance in a loss to the Bears in week 4. It would be the last game Joe would ever play.

41 years later, and we are still looking for his replacement.
 

[Warfish]

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150	3.82	1.22	6.5			-1
1977	34	RAM	qb	12	4	4	2-2-0	50	107	46.7	606	3	2.8	5	4.7	42	5.7	4.1	12.1	151.5	54.5	7	76	4.65	3.20	6.1			3

[T0mShane]

Pretty amazing that Joe, for all his warts, is still the face of the franchise and the battle for #2 is nowhere close to the level that Joe resides on. The dude really is a great ambassador for the franchise, though, and in many ways the perfect avatar of New York Jets football. I always thought, if I won mega-millions and my restaurant chain—The Pink Taco—took off, I’d buy the Jets, put a stadium in Queens, call it Joe Namath Arena, and install a massive, 30-story tall bronze statue of Namath out front. Not because he was that great, but because it says, “we can be total messes and still be good.”

[faba]

Hey he is an icon - was he perfect no but who is -he helped us win our one championsip forever grateful

[Joe W. Namath]

He had a great performance in the Wedding Ringer.  Terrible movie but Joe had an oscar worthy performance.

[Lith]

12 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150	3.82	1.22	6.5			-1
1977	34	RAM	qb	12	4	4	2-2-0	50	107	46.7	606	3	2.8	5	4.7	42	5.7	4.1	12.1	151.5	54.5	7	76	4.65	3.20	6.1			3

Agreed.  Makes you wonder how history would remember him had we not won that game in January 69.  Those first 4 years were incredible by the standards of the day.  Record setting yardage totals, plus one of the greatest upsets in history.  But then between the injuries and deterioration of the roster around him, he never appoached that level again. 

Really has been closer to 50 years without a true franchise QB.

[Anthony Jet]

17 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150	3.82	1.22	6.5			-1
1977	34	RAM	qb	12	4	4	2-2-0	50	107	46.7	606	3	2.8	5	4.7	42	5.7	4.1	12.1	151.5	54.5	7	76	4.65	3.20	6.1			3

Agreed, but at least he won a championship. The other guy jets fans hang there hats on did even less for us, getting us to the playoffs once, and stuff 

[Warfish]

50 minutes ago, Lith said:

Agreed.  Makes you wonder how history would remember him had we not won that game in January 69.  Those first 4 years were incredible by the standards of the day.  Record setting yardage totals, plus one of the greatest upsets in history.  But then between the injuries and deterioration of the roster around him, he never appoached that level again. 

Really has been closer to 50 years without a true franchise QB.

No need to wonder.  Had he now won SBIII, there is a 0% chance he's in the HOF today or remembered as an "all time great".

That game IS the Namath legacy.  Take it away, and he's just a flamboyant guy who had a couple good years before his horrible knees got the best of him. 

[Savage69]

12 minutes ago, Warfish said:

No need to wonder.  Had he now won SBIII, there is a 0% chance he's in the HOF today or remembered as an "all time great".

That game IS the Namath legacy.  Take it away, and he's just a flamboyant guy who had a couple good years before his horrible knees got the best of him. 

Joe was nothing special unlike your guy Kenny O..

[Larz]

 

1 hour ago, Warfish said:

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150	3.82	1.22	6.5			-1
1977	34	RAM	qb	12	4	4	2-2-0	50	107	46.7	606	3	2.8	5	4.7	42	5.7	4.1	12.1	151.5	54.5	7	76	4.65	3.20	6.1			3

You are such a cry baby.  If this hobby brings you no joy please keep it to yourself or give it up 

[Warfish]

10 minutes ago, Savage69 said:

Joe was nothing special unlike your guy Kenny O..

Oh I knew you'd be here quick once I posted. 

Look my friend, Joe is Joe because of two things:

1. Flamboyant Media Whore who hung out with the Mafia and some famous people

2. Super Bowl III Win AND the Guarantee.

Take away #2, and it's not even debatable, he's just another guy career wise.  

This isn't about Kenny O.  Kenny O was ok for a brief time, nothing special.  My fond memory of him and those O'Brian/Marino shootouts doesn't change that, doesn't make Kenny O anything more than a generally average QB of no particular historical significance.  

Your deflection won;t change the fact that Namath is the worst QB in the HOF, and is there primarily because of one game, one guarantee, and his off field fame and exploits.

When modern Jets Fans say we haven't had a legit franchise QB since Namath, they're wrong.  We've never had a legit franchise QB along the lines of a Manning or Elway or the like.  Our best guy, Namath by far, was still just a couple-year wonder who quickly fizzled out after his one SB winning run.  The sad part is his kneee issues, fatal at that time, could rather easily be corrected/treated today.  One can only wonder what his career would have been if it happened today.

And after the guarantee if he had lost SBIII......he'd not only not be in the HOF, the guarantee would be replayed every year along with our laughable draft picks.

Truth is a bitch I know.  But even our best really wasn't THAT great in the grand scheme.

 

[Warfish]

3 minutes ago, Larz said:

You are such a cry baby.  If this hobby brings you no joy please keep it to yourself or give it up 

Oh stop whining mate.  Truth is truth, sucks for you if you're too much a baby to handle it. 

Cry me a river, but cry it elsewhere.

[Sonny Werblin]

Jets could have easily won 3 championships with Namath if he wasn't such a self absorbed glory hound.

[Beerfish]

After looking at the comp %'s Josh Allen has sky rocketed up my draft board.

[Savage69]

20 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Oh I knew you'd be here quick once I posted. 

Look my friend, Joe is Joe because of two things:

1. Flamboyant Media Whore who hung out with the Mafia and some famous people

2. Super Bowl III Win AND the Guarantee.

Take away #2, and it's not even debatable, he's just another guy career wise.  

This isn't about Kenny O.  Kenny O was ok for a brief time, nothing special.  My fond memory of him and those O'Brian/Marino shootouts doesn't change that, doesn't make Kenny O anything more than a generally average QB of no particular historical significance.  

Your deflection won;t change the fact that Namath is the worst QB in the HOF, and is there primarily because of one game, one guarantee, and his off field fame and exploits.

When modern Jets Fans say we haven't had a legit franchise QB since Namath, they're wrong.  We've never had a legit franchise QB along the lines of a Manning or Elway or the like.  Our best guy, Namath by far, was still just a couple-year wonder who quickly fizzled out after his one SB winning run.  The sad part is his knee issues, fatal at that time, could rather easily be corrected/treated today.  One can only wonder what his career would have been if it happened today.

And after the guarantee if he had lost SBIII......he'd not only not be in the HOF, the guarantee would be replayed every year along with our laughable draft picks.

Truth is a bitch I know.  But even our best really wasn't THAT great in the grand scheme.

 

On the bolded part we agree 100%..Joe came to the NFL with 2 bad knee's which surgery of the 60's couldn't fix..Add to that the rules changes from 1978 on that helped the offense and protected the QB's.. Check out Joe in his early college games he was a scrambling QB. Most of the AFL QB's before the rule changes of the late 70's  had around a 50% career completion rate even the Mad Bomber Lamonica.. However even with 2 braces on Joe had 7 rushing td's which is more the Kenny had at 0..

[Jetscreen]

I'll always honor what Joe did. But everything was different back then also. The interception wasn't the mortal sin it is today. Defenses weren't as complicated. Offenses were very simple. Who knows what Joe would have been today with much better health practices, better coaching, and healthy knees?

[bitonti]

After looking at the comp %'s Josh Allen has sky rocketed up my draft board.

Joe Namath from PA
Joe klecko from PA
Curtis Martin from PA
Darrelle Revis from PA

The best Jets are from PA.

Draft saquon Barkley.


Sent from my [device_name] using http://JetNation.com mobile app

[Savage69]

Just now, Jetscreen said:

I'll always honor what Joe did. But everything was different back then also. The interception wasn't the mortal sin it is today. Defenses weren't as complicated. Offenses were very simple. Who knows what Joe would have been today with much better health practices, better coaching, and healthy knees?

Hell D linemen could slap the helmet of the O linemen at the snap made life miserable in protecting the QB.. Bump and run had no 5 yd rule so many rules were gone after 1978.. 

[faba]

Terrible knees ruined his career production - sadlt will never know what could have been but we do know he helped win  our only championship

[JoeWillieWhiteShoesHOF]

54 minutes ago, Warfish said:

No need to wonder.  Had he now won SBIII, there is a 0% chance he's in the HOF today or remembered as an "all time great".

That game IS the Namath legacy.  Take it away, and he's just a flamboyant guy who had a couple good years before his horrible knees got the best of him. 

You can’t equate anything Namath did back then while comparing it with what the NFL looks like today.  Guys with less than 1/2 the talent Namath had routinely throwing for 5,000 yards a year (Joe was the first 4,000 yard passer, which is like 8,000 today), because their receivers aren’t getting mugged all the way down the field.  Lots of the lower quality stats you look at were when his knees were totally disinitegrated.

Before the AFL-NFL merger Vince Lombardi was asked about Namath and called him “the PERFECT QB”....enough said.  A teammate at Alabama said that one of the saddest things in the history of sports is that so many people never got to see Joe play on both good knees”.

Those black and white stats would look the same or better than Dan Marino’s if Joe played in the same era, because they were practically carbon copies of each other, from the lightning fast release to being able to flick their wrist and put it 90 yards in the air...cannons.

If you can try to see footage of Joe throwing I think 7 TDs against the Colts and Unitas in the early ‘70s.  

But most of all try to see the HBO Special “Namath” if you missed it and you’ll learn a lot.  I didn’t know he batted .700 his final year in High School and that the Chicago Cubs wanted to sign him.  Just a natural born athlete.

Forget some of the stats, Namath, when healthy and at his best...there haven’t been many QBs in history who could say they were better.

[jgb]

2 hours ago, Warfish said:

No need to wonder.  Had he now won SBIII, there is a 0% chance he's in the HOF today or remembered as an "all time great".

That game IS the Namath legacy.  Take it away, and he's just a flamboyant guy who had a couple good years before his horrible knees got the best of him. 

Yep and take away when Captain Sully landed that dead bird on the Hudson without loss of life, he’d be another pensioner enjoying his golden years complaining at red robin for not honoring his Groupon. Heroic moments make heroes. Joe is a hero.

[The Crusher]

..... and meanwhile the Jets are still looking for the heir apparent. 

[The Crusher]

1 minute ago, jgb said:

Yep and take away when Captain Sully landed that dead bird on the Hudson without loss of life, he’d be another old dude enjoying his golden years complaining at red robin for not honoring his Groupon. Heroic moments make heroes. Joe is a hero.

To be fair that rule is pitiful! F - U Redrobin!!

[rangerous]

2 hours ago, Lith said:

Agreed.  Makes you wonder how history would remember him had we not won that game in January 69.  Those first 4 years were incredible by the standards of the day.  Record setting yardage totals, plus one of the greatest upsets in history.  But then between the injuries and deterioration of the roster around him, he never appoached that level again. 

Really has been closer to 50 years without a true franchise QB.

well yes.  sb 3 was his crowning moment.  but people need to realize what disarray the jets team was back then.  namath was getting injured a lot after 1970 and there was labor strife as well as all of those great players getting old.  many of the players bolted to the wfl and some, like maynard, were let go.  and the jets just weren't able to fill the positional holes left when the p[layers left.  hence the idiotic trades for billy newsome and margene adkins.  it was just a bad time.  and maybe namath could've been traded earlier but it is doubtful it would've helped the team.

one thing that does stand out are the yard per attempt. sure he had about a 50% pass completion rate but he wasn't dinking and dunking either.

[Bocajetfan]

3 minutes ago, rangerous said:

well yes.  sb 3 was his crowning moment.  but people need to realize what disarray the jets team was back then.  namath was getting injured a lot after 1970 and there was labor strife as well as all of those great players getting old.  many of the players bolted to the wfl and some, like maynard, were let go.  and the jets just weren't able to fill the positional holes left when the p[layers left.  hence the idiotic trades for billy newsome and margene adkins.  it was just a bad time.  and maybe namath could've been traded earlier but it is doubtful it would've helped the team.

one thing that does stand out are the yard per attempt. sure he had about a 50% pass completion rate but he wasn't dinking and dunking either.

And 50% completions was about tops in the league. Not many were higher.

[Gunnails]

Joe Namath is God.

[rangerous]

3 hours ago, Bocajetfan said:

And 50% completions was about tops in the league. Not many were higher.

pretty much.  hadl, lamonica, even stabler didn't have much higher.  bradshaw sure didn't.  i'm not sure about staubach.  griese was probably pretty high.  probably one of the highest completion percentages was with stormin norman snead with the giaints.  he was a dink and dunk master.

[Savage69]

1 hour ago, rangerous said:

pretty much.  hadl, lamonica, even stabler didn't have much higher.  bradshaw sure didn't.  i'm not sure about staubach.  griese was probably pretty high.  probably one of the highest completion percentages was with stormin norman snead with the giaints.  he was a dink and dunk master.

Griese had a career 56.2 and Roger the Dodger was at 57% but they weren't gun slingers like Joe was.. Back then no one really cared about completion avg it was if you won or not.. Joe also played in a 14 game season so he avg 286 passing yds per game in his 4,007 yd season..And that's when the defense could do about anything before the rule changes.

[TuscanyTile2]

8 hours ago, Warfish said:

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150	3.82	1.22	6.5			-1
1977	34	RAM	qb	12	4	4	2-2-0	50	107	46.7	606	3	2.8	5	4.7	42	5.7	4.1	12.1	151.5	54.5	7	76	4.65	3.20	6.1			3

I assume you're referring to him getting 4 ties in his 1st 3 seasons and then 0 for the rest of his career.  He definitely did have a major drop-off in that category.

[TuscanyTile2]

7 hours ago, bitonti said:

Joe Namath from PA
Joe klecko from PA
Curtis Martin from PA
Darrelle Revis from PA

The best Jets are from PA.

Draft saquon Barkley.


Sent from my [device_name] using http://JetNation.com mobile app
 

And Joe Walton once played in the secondary for the Redskins (as did Todd Bowles).  Our best HC's have formerly played in the secondary for the Redskins.

Hire Darrell Green as HC!

[Jethead]

Joe Namath and Mickey Mantle. You can make a case for others but they transcend.

[Warfish]

7 hours ago, jgb said:

Yep and take away when Captain Sully landed that dead bird on the Hudson without loss of life, he’d be another pensioner enjoying his golden years complaining at red robin for not honoring his Groupon. Heroic moments make heroes. Joe is a hero.

Indeed he is.

For folks born circa ~1965 or so and earlier.

For fans born after that (like me), he's more of a legendary historical figure who played before their time, a former punchline for his drunken behavious and waaaaana kiss ya national tv debacle, and now (happily) a recovered, and tenured, ambassador for the franchise. 

I respect him for what he was at his (brief) peak, and what he could have been if not for those damned knees, and the enjoyment his spectacular bravado and off-field massive presence must have been like during the (brief) period when he could back it up on the field, and I agree he IS the best QB this franchise has ever produced. 

Doesn't change any of what I wrote about him earlier tbqh.  Facts are durable little things.    

[jgb]

On 4/2/2018 at 7:19 AM, Warfish said:

Indeed he is.

For folks born circa ~1965 or so and earlier.

For fans born after that (like me), he's more of a legendary historical figure who played before their time, a former punchline for his drunken behavious and waaaaana kiss ya national tv debacle, and now (happily) a recovered, and tenured, ambassador for the franchise. 

I respect him for what he was at his (brief) peak, and what he could have been if not for those damned knees, and the enjoyment his spectacular bravado and off-field massive presence must have been like during the (brief) period when he could back it up on the field, and I agree he IS the best QB this franchise has ever produced. 

Doesn't change any of what I wrote about him earlier tbqh.  Facts are durable little things.    

It's a difficult pill to swallow when my best Jets memory is listening to my dad talk about 1969.

[nyjunc]

On ‎4‎/‎1‎/‎2018 at 8:52 AM, Warfish said:

Joe post-1969 was, with only a few exceptions, a pretty fragile and unproductive QB.

I mean look at those numbers post Super Bowl, if that happened today......

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	NY/A	ANY/A	Sk%	4QC	GWD	AV
1965*	22	NYJ	QB	12	13	9	3-5-1	164	340	48.2	2220	18	5.3	15	4.4	62	6.5	5.6	13.5	170.8	68.7								9
1966	23	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	5-6-2	232	471	49.3	3379	19	4.0	27	5.7	77	7.2	5.4	14.6	241.4	62.6						4	2	12
1967*	24	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	8-5-1	258	491	52.5	4007	26	5.3	28	5.7	75	8.2	6.7	15.5	286.2	73.8						1	2	16
1968*+	25	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	11-3-0	187	380	49.2	3147	15	3.9	17	4.5	87	8.3	7.1	16.8	224.8	72.1						3	3	15
1969*	26	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	10-4-0	185	361	51.2	2734	19	5.3	17	4.7	60	7.6	6.5	14.8	195.3	74.3	13	117	7.00	5.97	3.5	2	3	14
1970	27	NYJ	qb	12	5	5	1-4-0	90	179	50.3	1259	5	2.8	12	6.7	72	7.0	4.6	14.0	251.8	54.7	6	63	6.46	4.09	3.2			5
1971	28	NYJ	qb	12	4	3	2-1-0	28	59	47.5	537	5	8.5	6	10.2	74	9.1	6.2	19.2	134.3	68.2	0	0	9.10	6.22	0.0			3
1972*	29	NYJ	QB	12	13	13	7-6-0	162	324	50.0	2816	19	5.9	21	6.5	83	8.7	6.9	17.4	216.6	72.5	11	101	8.10	6.42	3.3	2	2	15
1973	30	NYJ	qb	12	6	5	2-3-0	68	133	51.1	966	5	3.8	6	4.5	63	7.3	6.0	14.2	161.0	68.7	10	97	6.08	4.89	7.0			3
1974	31	NYJ	QB	12	14	14	7-7-0	191	361	52.9	2616	20	5.5	22	6.1	89	7.2	5.6	13.7	186.9	69.4	19	195	6.37	4.82	5.0	3	3	12
1975	32	NYJ	QB	12	14	13	3-10-0	157	326	48.2	2286	15	4.6	28	8.6	91	7.0	4.1	14.6	163.3	51.0	27	253	5.76	3.04	7.6			9
1976	33	NYJ	QB	12	11	8	1-7-0	114	230	49.6	1090	4	1.7	16	7.0	35	4.7	2.0	9.6	99.1	39.9	16	150