Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath (<small>pronounced </small>
/ˈneɪmɨθ/; born May 31, 1943), also known as
Broadway Joe or
Joe Willie,<sup id="cite_ref-0" class="reference">
[1]</sup> is a former
American football quarterback. He played
college football for the
University of Alabama under coach
Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant,
Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the
American Football League (AFL) and
National Football League (NFL) during the 1960s and 1970s. Namath was an American Football League icon and played for that league's
New York Jets for most of his professional career but finished his career with the NFL's
Los Angeles Rams. He was elected to the
Hall of Fame in 1985.
Namath went on to a minor career as an actor in several movies, including
CC and Company with
Ann-Margret and
William Smith in 1970, and he starred in a brief 1978 television series,
The Waverly Wonders. He guest-starred on many television shows, including
Married with Children,
Here's Lucy,
The Brady Bunch,
The Flip Wilson Show,
Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In,
The Dean Martin Show,
The Simpsons,
The A-Team,
ALF and
The John Larroquette Show. He was guest host on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson several times, as well as hosting his own show, the 1969 cult classic
The Joe Namath Show (co-hosted by
Dick Schaap) with its eclectic guest pairings and open-bar attitude. He appeared as T.J. on
The A-Team. On
The A-Team, his character T.J. was punched by
Mr. T and verbally threatened by former football star Jim Brown in one episode during season 5 of the series.
He also served as a
color commentator on broadcasts of NFL games for a while, including the 1985 season of
Monday Night Football, but never seemed to be particularly comfortable in this role and was accused of being over-critical of then current players.
Known as "Broadway Joe," he made his only appearance on Broadway as a cast replacement in a revival of
The Caine Mutiny Court Martial. He did however appear in summerstock productions of
Damn Yankees and
Fiddler on the Roof.
[video=youtube;OM59nSkjEWU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM59nSkjEWU&feature=related[/video]
