Joe Namath - All the Way: My Life in Four Quarters

Copyright 2019 by Joe Namath

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First ebook edition: May 2019

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Image credits: The Warm-Up, photograph by Bill Meurer / NY Daily News Archive via Getty images; First Quarter, courtesy of Beaver County Genealogy and History Center; Second Quarter, photograph by James Drake / Sports Illustrated / Getty Images; Halftime, photograph by Walter Iooss Jr. / Sports Illustrated / Getty Images; Third Quarter, photograph by Bob Peterson / The LIFE Images Collection / Getty Images; Fourth Quarter, photograph Jessica Namath. All additional images, unless otherwise noted, are from the authors private collection.

ISBN 978-0-316-42110-2 (regular edition) / 978-0-316-42109-6 (ebook)

E3-20190318-DANF

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I finished voluntarily reading my first book when I was in my early twenties. Growing up, our family didnt emphasize education much and definitely didnt have books lying around the house. We just werent the kind of family to sit down and read. The paper only got a peek from me because it had the sports section. But, now, all these years later, my daughters, Jessica and Olivia, have the things stacked up around the house, and my granddaughter Jemma reads through those Harry Potter books like theyre magazines.

I, too, have grown to love reading, but that took until the age of twenty-two to plant the first seed. I was at LaGuardia airport getting ready to leave for an away game and picked up a copy of a book about the Boston Strangler. An alarming set of eyes stared out at me from the cover and instantly grabbed my attention.

After finishing that book, and still to this day, Ive always stayed alert in case a loose horse comes into play. And it certainly helped me establish my hotel room routine. The first thing I do is find my floors emergency exits. Then I scope out the shadowy areas in my room where someone might be hidingI check under the bed, behind the curtains, shower, and closets. Only after knowing Im alone will I take off my coat, unpack, and really settle in. Call it my suspicious Gemini side, but I know my vivid imagination has helped keep me on my toes all these years. I can even remember a time back in 1951, when I was eight, going to see The Thing from Another World at a Beaver Falls theater with my buddies Linwood and Freddie. Maaan, I was so scared I ran for the exit but stopped just short of the doors. My brave Gemini side decided I could safely peek around the wall from the back of the theater and still have a quick escape route in case that creature jumped out of the screen.

I still have fear run through my bones from time to time. Heck, just the thought of writing another book intimidated me. But thats the thing about fear, it can cripple you or it can motivate you to overcome the fear itself. And an urge to triumph over adversity and challenges has always been part of my personality. So if youre reading my book you know Ive managed to overcome this literary challenge.

At first, writing down my life, AZ, from the beginning to now, seemed to make the most sense. But before I knew it, I basically had a bad book report on myself. Finding the right approach had been a real struggle until my daughter Jessica asked me what I wanted to accomplish. Sometimes blunt simplicity is a powerful tool to dig out what you need. Well, I found myself answering: Id like to share good times, tough moments, and bad experiences. Hopefully youll find your own inspiration from my journey through this life that Ive been lucky enough to survive. So far, at least. And if these pages can accomplish that, then theyll be well worth my effort to find the words to fill them.

There was notoriety around my lifeand some of it was true. Sure, I did enjoy the company of a lot of lovely ladies. I wore fur coats on the sidelines and a Fu Manchu when I felt like it. But writing this book helped me feel even more connected and grateful to those who have played a part in my life, even the folks who come up to me on the street and give a greeting or shake my handthose strangers who we make connections with to feel part of a larger purpose.

Theres a news clip of me being interviewed after winning the Super Bowl, and Im sitting there, shirtless and sweaty, with black grease under my eyes.

Joe, youre king of the hill, my buddy Sal Marchiano says.

No, I said. Were king of the hill. We got the team, brother.

I might have been referring to my brothers on the Jets right then, but now I know that all those people we interact with while on lifes journey make up the team.

Because what if we really were alone and didnt have each other to share the good and get through the bad? We have to learn from each others shortcomings and triumphs. Because change, man, thats a constant and a certainty that is always presenting us with two simple choices: We either change in a positive fashion and get better, or change for the worse and regress.

You see, and this might be oversimplifying, but one of my goals here is to show you how Ive changed, both positively and negatively, through the course of life. I also hope to communicate this evolution like Ive been taught to communicate while calling a play in the huddle. Because when Im talking to teammates, I need to say it clearly and with confidence. If a player has any doubts when he breaks the huddle, odds are that the play is not going to work.

How the heck did we start with the Boston Strangler and get talking about the positive power of connections and huddle etiquette?

Thats life, man, all the way.

Something isnt right. My chest is tight, and Im just distracted, man, distracted. Im drinking my daily eight-ounce Cheribundi at the kitchen table as an afternoon storm starts rolling in, slowly darkening our summer sky. Nothing out of the ordinary for August in south Florida, but Im sure outta my element. I decide to pull up the definition of memoir on my iPad: A record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation. Boy, that just isnt me. I dont have a lot of practice talking about myself unless Im answering questions. Growing up with three older brothers, somebody else was always talking, louder than I ever could. It just feels negative, man. Negative.