THE GUARANTEE Joe Namath said they would do it The star quarterback was speaking to the press at the Miami Touchdown Club in Florida It was January 9 1969 three days before the New York Jets played the powerful Baltimore Colts in the third Super Bowl Few thought the Jets could win The Colts were champions of the National Football League NFL and were favored by 19 points The Jets won the American Football League AFL seen at the time as an inferior league Someone in the audience told Namath the Jets had no chance He had a strong reply We'll win he said I it guarantee
Jets quarterback Joe Namath knew he'd have to play well to make good on guarantee his
Namath and the Jets might have been the only ones who believed his words But that Sunday at the Orange Bowl Namath outplayed Baltimore's strong defense New York's defense held the mighty Colts to one touchdown The final score was Jets 16 Colts 7 For the first time the AFL beat the NFL in the Super Bowl That made fans realize that the newer AFL might be just as good as the NFL In 1970 the two leagues merged into one Namath and the Jets were one of the AFL's most memorable teams Defensive back Randy Beverly had two of the Jets four interceptions in the Super Bowl FAST FACT Joe Namath was named Most Valuable Player MVP of Super Bowl III despite not throwing touchdowns any
Running back Matt Snell scored the Jets touchdown only
