FEBRUARY 2020 35
Wa llace, Ma rk Messier.... They may have inspired
their teams and fired up their fan bases, but really
they were all just paying tribute to Joe Namath.
This was the third Super Bowl, the second
straight in Miami. Namath was speaking at the
Miami Touchdown Club three days before the
game, and he had been drinking, and he was tired
of hearing that the NFL’s Baltimore Colts were
18-point favorites over his team, the AFL cham-
pion New York Jets. And so he said the words that
changed the sport: “The Jets will win Sunday.
I guarantee it.”
New York won that Sunday, ushering in a new era
of pro football. The Super Bowl became required
viewing for any American sports fan. Namath
became a superstar; indeed, it’s hard to imagine
any athlete in history living so well, for so long,
off one performance. (Broadway Joe had a losing
record as a pro and threw 47 more interceptions
than touchdowns, but he is in the Hall of Fame.)
Namath made us believe we could do the un-
thinkable: beat our bookies. We couldn’t, of course.
But it was fun to imagine we could. In a span of five
years, Miami had hosted two seismic upsets, both
featuring mouthy winners: Muhammad Ali over
Sonny Liston, and the Jets over the Colts. Miami
was an anything-goes city, and after Namath,
the Super Bowl became an anything-goes affair.
When the Super Bowl returned to Miami two
years later, it was a different game. It was the
first one post-merger, the first between the AFC
and NFC. It was the first time anybody held up
the Vince Lombardi Trophy; Lombardi had died
four months earlier, and the championship trophy
had been renamed in his honor. This Super Bowl,
and the next in Miami, five years later, would
provide the two ingredients that are essential to
any memorable football game: down-to-the-wire
tension and exceptional athleticism.
Jan. 17, 1971
“A laugher.” “Spectacularly dull.” “Not very
good football.” And that was just the take from
SportsIllustr ated. The Miami magic of the
game: Jim O’Brien’s last-second field goal (next
page). Watched in agony by Chuck Howley (54),
the only losing-team MVP, the kick provided what
SI also called “the first truly exciting” finale.
WALTER IO
OSS JR.
