Over the next two weeks Philguard will be counting down the top 10 moments in the past 42 years in the big game. Today…
Namath’s Guarantee
A Baltimore Colts fan goads “Broadway Joe” into legitimizing an entire league.
When: Super Bowl III – January 12, 1969
Where: The Orange Bowl
The 1968 Baltimore Colts weren’t just good. The media had labeled them the greatest team in Pro Football history as they prepared to take on the AFL Champion New York Jets in the third installment of the game that was called the Super Bowl for the first time. The Colts had run through the NFL behind Quarterback Earl Morrell who took over for an injured Johnny Unitas in the preseason and played so well that Head Coach Don Shula would make him the starter for the entire season. The Colts finished the season 13-1 with their only loss coming against the Browns who they would meet in the NFL Championship game avenging the loss by beating the Browns 34-0.
The AFL had finally made room for itself at the big boy table by convincing the NFL to merge the leagues but after the Packers had beaten the AFL champions (the Chiefs and the Raiders respectively) many were resigned to the fact that the AFL talent was no match for the NFL and the merger hung in limbo. In 1969, the New York Jets became the next AFL team to take on the real Pro Football champions from the NFL after going 11-3 and narrowly beating the Raiders in the AFL Championship game 27-23. The Jets had gotten lucky recovering a fumble with less than 2 minutes left to secure the win.
As the two teams prepared for the game in Miami, Jets Quarterback Joe Namath made an appearance at the Touchdown Club. The Jets had been installed as an 18 point underdog for the game and some rowdy Colts fans had been quick to give Namath the business. Namath’s response was simply, “We’re going to win the game. I guarantee it.” Namath did not intend to make such a public statement but nevertheless the guarantee became the pregame story with Namath becoming the butt of the joke around the country. By the fourth quarter the laughing had stopped. The Jets took a 16-0 lead on the Colts with 13:26 left in the fourth on a field goal. The Colts were scrambling to make something work on offense. Shula even pulled Morrell in favor of Unitas in the third quarter. The Colts finally crossed the goal line with 3:19 left in the game to make the score 16-7. The Colts then recovered the onside kick and drove down to the Jets 19 yard line but three straight incomplete passes led to the Colts turning the ball over on down and the Jets would run all but 8 seconds off the clock.
As the game ended, Namath (named MVP without throwing a touchdown pass) ran off the field with a defiant #1 finger in the air. The video would become an iconic image for the NFL who would finalize the merger in 1970 after the AFL’s Chiefs won Super Bowl IV over the NFL’s Vikings. Namath and the Jets are often commended for it is quite possible that a Colts win would have delayed the merger and the AFL may have had to fold and today’s NFL would look very different.