Namath, 1968 Jets Fulfilled Wishes

I don't remember the bet's amount. Perhaps $10, maybe $15. My friend, Big Jake, knew it was easy money.

Like everyone else in America, Big Jake believed the NFL's Baltimore Colts would blow out the AFL's New York Jets in the 1969 Super Bowl, following the 1968 season. Coached by Don Shula, the Colts entered the game an overwhelming favorite.

But at school on Friday before the game, I told Big Jake I'd take the Jets. He laughed, incredulous at my stupidity. The Jets! A rag-tag team from the fledgling AFL didn't even belong on the field with the Colts, a member of the proud and long-established NFL's aristocracy. When I confirmed my confidence in the Jets, Big Jake laughed again. He looked forward to taking my money on Monday morning, he said with a sneer.

Growing up in conservative Louisiana, I chose as my sports heroes the era's iconoclasts. I loved Muhammed Ali and stoutly defended his right not to serve in the Army. And I loved Joe Willie Namath, the Jets' brash quarterback. Somehow, I'd read that Joe Namath had guaranteed that the Jets would whip the Colts. That was good enough for me. A young idealist, I placed complete faith in Joe.

For years, I was an NFL fan, and I remained one. I'd loved the Green Bay Packers in their glory years, thrilling to their dominance in that era of sports dynasties. Baseball had the Yankees, basketball the Celtics, hockey the Canadiens and football the Packers. I liked the Colts as well, with their stars Tom Matte, Johnny Unitas, Bubba Smith and Jimmy Orr.

But I'd fallen in love with the AFL. For my money, the AFL in the '60s played the best football ever. It was free-wheeling, improvisational, wacky. The AFL played the hippie to the NFL's establishment, with players like Namath and the Raiders' Ben Davidson who wore moustaches and long hair. The AFL's teams swaggered and danced, with wild gamblers, gunslingers, tough guys, villains and heroes.

The 1968 Jets had played in the famous Heidi game against the Oakland Raiders, which showed the sports nation how popular the AFL had become. I remember watching the game on a Sunday afternoon. For some reason, I was by myself, with my family elsewhere.

The Jets led 32-29 with 65 seconds left. Expecting to watch the end of the game, I was dismayed when the famed NBC peacock filled the screen, the colors flashing from left to right and playing a tune like a rainbow xylophone. Then, instead of Joe Namath or George Blanda, a Dutch girl with braids and wooden shoes came on.

Like football fans across America, I was incensed. It turned out that the Raiders scored twice before the game ended to take the win. Angry callers flooded NBC's switchboard, causing it to blow out. The outrage showed that the AFL had arrived, with huge fan support.

The Jets, in a return match, had defeated the Raiders in the AFL championship game. Going into the Super Bowl, the Colts looked unbeatable on paper. The AFL teams had been humiliated by the Packers in the first two Super Bowls. Famed Packers coach Vince Lombardi had sneered at the AFL after the blowouts.

But Namath and the Jets proved all of the wise guys wrong. With a stunning ball-control offense and a stout defense, the Jets upset the mighty Colts 16-7. Namath didn't really have that great a game, completing 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards and no touchdowns.

The real star was fullback Matt Snell, who kept grinding out gains to move the chains, finishing with 131 yards. Jets wide receiver Don Maynard, a free spirit like Namath, kept catching passes on the sideline to keep the Jets offense on the field

Before Super Bowl I, Lombardi had said about the possibility of the AFL playing with the NFL, "let them get a ball first." In Super Bowl III, the Jets proved that the AFL teams had acquired the ball, and knew how to ram it down the NFL's throat.

When I received my winnings from Big Jake on Monday morning, I tried not to gloat. Yet somehow, I felt a part of the Jets and Namath's big win.