Joe Namath's Record Jets Contract: Changing the Game

On January second, nineteen sixty five, Professional football was forever changed when a young, charismatic quarterback from Alabama, one of the best football colleges ever, with a cannon for an arm and more swagger than he knew what to do with, signs the highest contract in pro football history when Joe Namath signed with the New York Jets of the AFL, showing that the AFL was here to really compete with the NFL, as at the time they were still battling for supremacy in professional football in America. Today, we're going to dive into a Broadway Joe in this contract that changed the landscape of football forever. As now we look at contracts in the millions, and soon the babies host to the billions. Today on Daily Sports History, Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history. As the day we dive into the historic Joe Namath contract and the trivia question today to listen out for is prior to Joe Namath, who was the highest played pro football player. Listen out for the answer in the episode, and if you miss it, I'll give it to you at the very end. Now, the average contract in the NFL at the time was roughly around forty thousand dollars, with the highest paid player in nineteen sixty five being Johnny Unitas, who made a reported salary of one hundred thousand dollars a year as he was one of the most established quarterbacks in the NFL, having record setting seasons for the Baltimore Colts, and the AFL was making splashes every year trying to sign big name players, but the average everyday player would make a fraction of what NFL players usually made, but it was continuously increasing as the NFL and AFL TV rights were actually almost identical, giving the AFL some report from television that helped keep them afloat year by year as they were struggling to keep up with the attendants that the NFL had now. The New York Jets were a struggling franchise as they were in a huge market as New York the Yankees, they had the Giants that took out a lot away from New York Jets, and they struggled for capacity, and in nineteen sixty four they went five eight and one, finishing third in the AFL East, not really having a chance to make the playoffs, and they wanted to make a splash as they had the number one pick in the AFL draft that year, and they selected Joe Naaman, who was also selected number twelve by the Saint Louis Cardinals that same year in the NFL. But who was this Joe and why was he thought to be the savior for the Jets. Well, he grew up in Pittsburgh and he instlled at sports in high school, being standout quarterback, basketball player, and baseball player, and despite only being six y two, he would regularly dunk in his high school basketball games, showing how much athleticism he he did have, and he led his team to a Double A championship in nineteen sixty and when upon graduating, he had several offers from Major League Baseball teams including the Yankees, Indians, reds Pirates, and Phillies, but decided to go to college to play for Alabama as his mother wanted him to get a college education, and he had many offers for his college career as he could have gone to Penn State, Ohio State, Alabama, Notre Dame, but he actually decided to go to Maryland as he was heavily recruited there, but was rejected by Maryland due to his college testing scores which were below the requirements, But Alabama had some ways around this which allowed him to go to Alabama and be coached by the legendary Bear Bryant, and while he was there, bar Bryant actually called him the greatest athlete he ever coached. But his stats weren't that great. Although he did lead the team to a national championship in nineteen sixty four, he only threw for seven hundred and fifty six yards that season and five touchdowns compared to four interceptions. At the time, Alabama focus more on rushing the ball, as he did complete sixty four percent of his passes, but it wasn't the focus. He was more of a game manager, and he did have some issues as he had nagging injury his senior year with Alabama as he was limping all the way through their championship run. So at this time, players could enter both the AFL and the NFL draft and there would be a bitty war on where you went. But because the NFL was more established, players tended to go there more than the AFL, so the AFL wouldn't pick the best player that year to be their first number one pick, they would normally pick someone farther down the line that they thought they could actually pick, and that's why Joe Nama was selected number twelve in the NFL number one in the AFL. And the Cardinals actually held their draft before the Orange Bowl that he would play with Alabama, and they told him they would give him a two hundred thousand dollars contract if he would sign before the Orange Bowl, but doing so would make him ineligible to play for the Tide Orange Bowl, and that is why he's signed the contract with the Jets instead of the Cardinals, and also the Jets were offering an historic amount of money on June. On January second, nineteen sixty five, he signed a contract with the New York Jets worth four hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars over three years, which are the total amount of contract is roughly about four point two million dollars today, and it was the largest contract signed in NFL history, and he got as signing bonus as well, of about two hundred thousand dollars, Almost half would be paid upfront as a bonus, meaning his salary after the bonus would be roughly seventy five thousand dollars a year, which is less than what which is less than what Johnny Unitas was making a year, But he was a rookie, unproven, and he had already got two hundred thousand dollars up front his full contract. If he separated out just over three years, it would be one hundred and forty two thousand a year, making more than any other player in the NFL or AFL for that matter, And this was a large reason why he chose the Jets. He was so charismatic, He had so many endorsements as well on top of what he was making at the AFL, that he changed the game. Not only four players just to play, but allowed them to be endorsers for brands and other things throughout their career. As many would become endorsers after their career, but he changed it as now we see players of all kinds endorsing products and in commercials all the time. But the question was would this signing change things for the Jets, And the answer is not right away. As the nineteen sixty five season they would go five eight and one, the same record they had last year, but they would finish second in the AFL East, and the next year was another struggle as they went six and two, and during this time Joe would actually struggle with injuries, but he would pass the ball a lot more than he did in college, but that it wasn't to a lot of success, as his first two seasons he had a passing completion under fifty and in his nineteen sixty six season, he led the league in interceptions with twenty seven opposed to just nineteen touchdowns. This was something very common in his career. Even though Joe Namath is in the Hall of Fame, he threw for more interceptions in his career than touchdown passes and barely had over a fifty percent completion percentage throughout his career had an overall losing record as a starting quarterback, But what he did in nineteen sixty eight after the NFL merger changed the game, as this was a few years after the NFL had merged with the AFL, and in Super Bowl three in nineteen sixty nine, he led the Jets to an eleven to three season that year where they faced off against the Raiders in the AFL Championship Game, which the winner would play in the Super Bowl three versus the Colts, and after they beat the Raiders, he guaranteed they would win the championship. Was this something no one had ever done before, and it is something we see now to this day. And what happened is they actually won this game, which cemented his legacy and really is probably the only reason why he is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to this day. But what he really did was change the perception players are now would increase their value every single year, getting a higher contract every single year, and we see this to this day. Quarterbacks are the highest paid position in the NFL and they happened ever since the nineteen sixties which Johnny United and Joe name it. And every year today the next new quarterback that's up for a contract becomes the highest paid player in the league. It happens that way every year, and it started with Joe and Joe really amped up what would be the pay for every single year as it made a huge jump during the AFL NFL rivalry as players had to decide and there was actually a bidding war and allowed players to get even more money without the AFL challenging the NFL contracts in the in the today, may not be what we see. They may maybe a lot lower, but Joe Namath changed the game by signing this historic contract as a rookie. I want to thank you for listening today's episode. If you want more Jets content, check out the Green Bean in Wide Jets Pod, where they take you throughout all the corridors of Jets fandom, wrapped in humor and a touch of intelligence. They're here to entertain you and educate you on all things Jets. And we'll put a link in the description below for you to check them out. And if you enjoyed today's episode of Daily Sports History, please like and subscribe wherever you're at. That way you do not miss a single episode, and come back tomorrow for more Daily Sports History. And did you catch the answer to today's triviy question? Prior to Joe Namath, who is the highest paid pro football player? And the answer is Johnny Units who made one hundred thousand dollars a year on his contract and Joe Namath sign a contract worth about one hundred and forty thousand dollars a year.