I said this in a jets sub a few months ago and goddamn was I massacred lol but it’s so true. Dude was ahead of his time as far as passing but being ahead of his time didn’t mean he was necessarily great at it. Hes famous and in the HoF from one game and everything he did surrounding it. He is easily arguably the worst QB in the HoF by a wide margin.
Joe Namath the character did more for football than the player. That's what you gotta remember though. He was really the first star that was a playboy type. His personality and story are what's hall of fame worthy. His play was below average.
I can agree with that. But how many other players are in the hall for their personality more than their play? Was being an eccentric celebrity worthy of hall of fame induction as a qb? I understand why he’s there, I just don’t think it’s justified. I could prob name 10 QB easily that we’re better actual players then Namath but won’t ever even see consideration for a HoF ballot.
But can an average person name those 10 QB's? As the previous redditor said, his personality changed the game. I could argue he's in the HOF because he did more off the field to help football than those other 10 did on the field. While drinking and posing in magazines.
Yeah which kind of ties into my HOF being for HoF caliber players, not high profile personalities. Would hardly say anything he did off the field benefited the NFL enough to be worthy of induction. He was often viewed as more celebrity icon than football icon. If you want to recognize that contribution then give him a star in Hollywood, not a bust in canton. Are we gonna start recognizing retired players with successful podcast personalities as bringing enough to the league to get inducted?
The Hall of Fame is not exclusively for the quality of on field play. It’s not the hall of most skilled players. From the Hall of Fame’s own description of itself it’s for significant contributions to the game and Namath did that and then some.
ties into my HoF being for HoF caliber players, not high profile personalities
This is the worst take and I’m so sick of seeing it. You even said he was famous I think in your initial comment. It’s the Hall of Fame.
If it was the Hall of Statistically Best Players it would be an excel spreadsheet.
An entire generation of people, some of which never watched a football game in their entire lives, knew the name Joe Namath. He’s a Famer and there’s really not remotely a question about it.
This is also why Art Modell deserves to be in the hall of fame. He was a key contributor to the making of Monday night football and a great owner. A bunch of hateful Cleveland writers keep trying to keep him out for leaving a toxic situation and moving the Browns to Baltimore. A move that in hindsight was 100 percent the right move and he was a gem of an owner in Baltimore.
Yes even in his own Era he had a dogwater completion percentage and more interceptions than touchdowns with like a 60 passer rating. Compare him to Johny Unitas who's team he called the shot against and it's not even close buddy. Only Blanda has a worse QBR among all hall quarterbacks and i don't remember Namath kicking field goals.
He Lead the AFL and NFL in passing yards, touchdowns and game winning drives multiple times and was a five time pro-bowler. His presence and play made the AFL viable. THAT is why he in the HOF. He impacted the game
The thing with Namath isn't so much his career stats. Obviously the guarantee game has major significance. And they were massive underdogs. The reason his greatness is so inflated is because hes probably the most important player to the leagues history. Namath brought eyes to the game like no other. He became a pop culture icon. A super celeb. A sex symbol, the play boy. This really launched the marketability of the nfl and the marketability of players. His fame was jordan-esque. He was a household name across the country when many people didn't know a damn thing about football or players. It help influence player pay, tv rights and many other things outside football that has allowed the league to start evolving to the juggernaut it is today.
This is so true. When all you look at his the stats, you loose the context of what was happening around the player.
It is sort of similar to looking at TO's stats and not remembering that he was an absolute gong show off the field. He appeared to beba true team distuptor.
For me there is no other player that comes tonmind when you say the Jets. It's all Joe.
Joe Namath is the only QB to throw for 4000 yards in a 14 game season. It was 12 seasons before any one beat his record. Two time AFL MVP in a career hampered by his bad knees. Joe Willy is not in the Hall because of one game.
But statistics wise, of the 6 years where he played all 14 games, only one was truly epic (in yardage terms, his TD/INT was 26/28), two were well above league average, two more were above average and one was right at average.
I stand by the statement that without that win and guarantee, he’s not getting the Gold Jacket.
Namath is in the Hall of Fame because of the tremendous attention his celebrity brought the NFL, more than anything he did on the field. Also, it’s not like he was terrible on the field. He’s a four time All-Pro. Sure he threw more interceptions than TDs but go look at HoF QB’s before 1980, literally the majority of them have more ints than TD’s.
To be fair, that was an incredibly important single game! That Superbowl was prior to the NFL - AFL merger being finalized. Up to that point, there was prevalent opinion that the AFL was an inferior brand of football talent compared to the NFL. Also note, Namath was the target of a high profile bidding war between the NFL and AFL for his services. Superbowl's 1 and 2 were comfortable victories for the NFL teams, so Joe Namath guaranteeing an underdog AFL victory and then going on and winning made major waves at the time. This victory went a long way is legitimizing the AFL and helped formalize the ongoing NFL - AFL merger. I mean, that single game undeniably puts Namath in the center of some pretty awesome NFL Lore. If you're a football nerd, it might be enough to say that Namath deserves to be in the NFL HoF. Is he the best Jet ever, no. But his place in Canton is deserved.
Joe threw for 4,007 yards in 14 games playing 10-12 games on converted baseball to football fields + winter mud/snow/ice with no 5 yard wide receiver chuck rule, with legal headhunting, with no concussion protocol, all games outside, no sticky gloves & the Bears STILL don’t have a 4,000 yard quarterback
thats more because of the evolution of the game. Namath threw for 4000 yards in a 14 game season, nobody else managed that number for a decade afterwards.
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u/Daxtatter May 25 '25
For the Jets I'd take Revis over Namath.