Football fans will delight in Namath’s play calling throughout (he tells Jets coach Weeb Ewbank on the sideline, “They haven’t scored on our defense yet. We’re going to win a lot of games, but the losses will stick in ya’ll’s craws”). It’s apparent that he valued his relationship with coach Bear Bryant, for whom he played at the University of Alabama, and uses his quotes as metaphors for life (“You’ll remember the losses quicker than the wins. Namath is refreshingly candid throughout, taking readers through his decision to even write the book (Mortimer and Yaeger expertly bring out Namath’s intimate, conversational tone), and emphasizing his desire to not overlook the darker parts of his life.

For example, as Namath discusses his legendary Super Bowl III “guarantee” to win against the Baltimore Colts, he addresses his struggles with drinking. Namath explains that he intends to show readers “how I’ve changed, both positively and negatively,” and divides his memoir into four parts, as he recalls each quarter of Super Bowl III, incorporating moments of his private life throughout. Now 74, Namath is ready to open up, brilliantly using the four quarters of Super Bowl III as the narrative backbone to a life that was anything but charmed.Namath, quarterback of the 1968 Superbowl III–winning Jets, reflects on his life in this riveting, earnest memoir.

When failing knees permanently derailed his career, he turned to Hollywood and endorsements, not to mention a tumultuous marriage and fleeting bouts of sobriety, to try and find purpose. By 26, with a championship title under his belt, he was quite simply the most famous athlete alive.Īlthough his legacy has long been cemented in the history books, beneath the eccentric yet charismatic personality was a player plagued by injury and addiction, both sex and substance.

Namath was instantly heralded as a gridiron god, while his rugged good looks, progressive views on race, and boyish charm quickly transformed him - in an era of raucous rebellion, shifting social norms, and political upheaval - into both a bona fide celebrity and a symbol of the commercialization of pro sports. When the final whistle blew, that promise had been kept. Three days before the 1969 Super Bowl, Joe Namath promised the nation that he would lead the New York Jets to an 18-point underdog victory against the seemingly invincible Baltimore Colts. The NFL icon who first brought show business to sports shares his life lessons on fame, fatherhood, and football.

Joe namath all the way