THE AFL 1960–69: A RETROSPECTIVE
Joe Namath’s Hall of Fame Credentials Not All About the Numbers
Polarizing as he was, when he joined the New York Jets he gave the AFL star power and undeniable credibility
The are few Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees, especially among the quarterbacks, who elicit as much debate regarding their credentials for the sport’s highest honor, as Joe Namath.
Even now, more than four decades after he played his last game and 35 years since he stood on the steps of the shrine in Canton, Ohio with his shiny new gold blazer, Namath remains one of the all-time paradoxical figures in professional sport.
His 27,663 career passing yards are impressive for the era in which he played, but his completion percentage (50.1 percent) was barely average, and his ratio of touchdowns (173) to interceptions (220) is simply horrendous.
Former Sports Illustrated pro football writer Tex Maule, who never appreciated the AFL and made that abundantly public, said of Namath back in the early 1970s, “You can’t rank him with the Van Brocklins, Starrs and others because he hasn’t played that well. He’s had only one great year his entire career. He hasn’t done a damn thing since and he didn’t do much before.”
