Joe Namath

 Joseph William Namath (/'neIm@th/ NAY-meth, born on May 31, 1943) is an former American football quarterback who was a part of the American Football League (AFL) as well as the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, mostly in the New York Jets. He was a football college player at Alabama. As a senior, he won the national championship and was selected by the Jets as the first overall pick in the 1965 AFL Draft. During his five AFL seasons He was a two-time MVP and twice was the league's top passer yards. He also helped lead the Jets to win one AFL championship and one Super Bowl. These victories are the Jets' only championships. After the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, Namath joined the NFL with the Jets and was the NFL's touchdowns and passing yards most prolific during the 1972 season. He was a player in New York for seven more seasons, and his final year spent as part of the Los Angeles Rams.Namath cemented his legacy in 1969, when he made a promise that his underdog Jets were going to win Super Bowl III before defeating the NFL's Baltimore Colts in one of the most thrilling sports upsets of all time. The Super Bowl victory was the first for the AFL franchise, removing perceptions that their teams were not as good as the NFL's, and showing that they would enter the merger on equal footing. Namath received Super Bowl MVP honors in the game, while also becoming the first quarterback to win both a college national championship and a major professional championship.Nicknamed "Broadway Joe", Namath became a media icon who attracted mainstream popularity outside of sports. Namath is still one of the most adored and famous players in the league despite his win-loss record and his statistics not being impressive. In 1985 Namath was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.