Legendary quarterbacks Joe Namath and Peyton Manning recently shared an exclusive sit-down. At the center of the conversation was the Super Bowl III victory of Joe’s Jets 54 years ago. The conversation took the fans for a ride into the past when the NFL landscape was remarkably different.
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The now viral video was posted by ‘Omaha Productions,’ a media house owned by Peyton Manning. It was simply a delight for the NFL fans as the Jets legend let everyone in on a secret about how his decisions helped the team win the historic game.
A Trip Down Memory Lane: Story of Super Bowl III
Peyton Manning and Joe Namath were watching the tape of Super Bowl III where Manning said, “William Eubank’s family donated this film from his collection. This is the original game film of Super Bowl III”. The first word that Namath uttered after watching the video was, “Wow”.
Manning then proceeded to ask Joe about the plays that he made during the historic game. He asked the veteran, “You called all your own plays. Tell me how that would work?” Namath replied, “You know in this game, I’ll bet you 70% of the time we went with what we call check with me”.
Namath continued, “Yes and would get up there and look and see what kind of look they’re giving us and would call the play at the line”. Post that, the focus of the interaction shifted towards the Super Bowl III footage, in which the commentator just couldn’t stop praising Namath. He went, “That’s that game of chess that Namath will be playing with that Baltimore defensive unit all afternoon”.
The Jets’ only championship-winning team changed the landscape of football after they defeated the Baltimore Colts who entered the Super Bowl as firm favorite. The Colts were then regarded as one of the finest units when it came to the defense. Which is why, the Jets’ victory tasted even sweeter to their fans.
Joe Nameth “Guaranteed” Super Bowl III Victory
The video by Peyton Manning’s production house took everyone back to the Super Bowl III game which took place on 12th January 1969. That particular game changed the NFL landscape altogether. However, even Peyton noticed that in the end, the game was largely about just one man – Joe Namath.
Even before the game started, Namath had declared that his unit was going to emerge victoriously. While it wasn’t uncommon for stars even then to make such bold statements, Namath’s case was different as he didn’t just predict the win, he guaranteed it. So one can imagine the kind of backlash he would have faced, just in case his team would have lost.
Exhibiting that kind of confidence in an underdog unit, against the fearsome Colts, paid dividends for the Jets and till date, that 1969 win has been the only championship victory in Jets’ history.
