How "Broadway Joe" Namath Was Nearly a Michigan State Spartan

We all know the legend of "Broadway Joe" Namath, right?

Namath's list of accolades are awe inspiring. He won Super Bowl III after guaranteeing a victory, he's a part of the all-time AFL team, and he's a four-time AFL All-Star. Oh yeah, he also did commercials peddling panty hose, but that's another story.

Here's an interesting piece of Michigan State lore that many Spartans may not be aware of: Namath nearly donned the green and white in East Lansing before he made those very colors a symbol of greatness as a New York Jet in the 1960s.

As legend would have it, the man who made Spartan football, Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty, came awfully close to having the future Hall-of-Famer call the shots for his then-dominant Spartan football program.

As the head coach of Michigan State, Daugherty won four national titles (1956, 1957, 1965, and 1966), claiming an outright title in '66. Daugherty is the grandfather of the Spartan gridiron and is hailed as one of college football's all-time elite coaches.

Anyway, back to Namath.

Had "Broadway" come to East Lansing instead of joining Paul "Bear" Bryant in Alabama, the entire landscape of Spartan football could have changed.

Wait, it gets better.

Bryant heavily recruited future Spartan legends such as George Webster, Gene Washington, and Bubba Smith. Bryant had close ties to the Lone Star state's prep stars because of his days at Texas A&M—that's how Smith came into the picture.

Due to the racial bias that was so prevalent in the 1960s, African-American players were not welcome to play football for the Crimson Tide. Bryant had a predicament to clear up and what happened next is quite the story in its own right.

Supposedly, Daugherty caught wind of the two mega-stars in the making (Webster and Smith) and proposed a deal to Bryant, which were quite common between the two coaches at that time. Due to Namath's inability to satisfy Michigan State's academic requirements, Daugherty also had an issue to resolve. The coach did what he did best and devised a gameplan to solve his dilemma.

Daugherty hopped on the phone and called Bryant in Tuscaloosa, placing a deal on the table that forever impacted MSU's football program. He told Bryant about Namath, assuring him that he was as good, if not better than advertised—Bryant's interest was sparked.

A "Bear" would surely take the tantalizing bait—and Daugherty's plan was set into motion.

Bryant then told Smith and Webster to pack their bags and head to East Lansing—in essentially a "trade" for Namath, with both universities coming out on the winning end.

If Daugherty had not brokered these types of switches, he may have cost his school a shot at future title fights. Imagine an MSU with no George Webster, no "Kill Bubba, Kill" Smith, and no Gene Washington—and just think, a couple strings pulled and a phone call changed it all.

(A special thanks goes to Ken Hammerick, a former MSU athlete, for supplying me with information used in this story).