Editing Joe Namath (section)

{{Short description|American football player (born 1943)}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name          = Joe Namath
| image         = Namath 1965.jpg
| alt           = Black and white publicity still of Namath, in pads and jersey with no helmet, holding football over his shoulder as if to throw it (1965).
| caption       = Namath as a rookie with the Jets in 1965
| number        = 12
| position      = [[Quarterback]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1943|5|31|mf=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
| height_ft     = 6
| height_in     = 2
| weight_lbs    = 200
| high_school   = [[Beaver Falls High School|Beaver Falls]] <br> (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania)
| college       = [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|Alabama]] (1961–1964)
| draftyear     = 1965
| draftround    = 1
| draftpick     = 12
| afldraftyear  = 1965
| afldraftround = 1
| afldraftpick  = 1
| pastteams     =
* [[New York Jets]] ([[1965 American Football League season|1965]]–{{NFL Year|1976}})
* [[Los Angeles Rams]] ({{NFL Year|1977}})
| highlights    =
* [[List of Super Bowl champions|Super Bowl champion]] ([[Super Bowl III|III]])
* [[American Football League playoffs|AFL champion]] ([[1968 American Football League Championship Game|1968]])
* [[Super Bowl MVP]] ([[Super Bowl III|III]])
* [[American Football League playoffs#Championship summary|AFL Championship MVP]] ([[1968 American Football League Championship Game|1968]])
* [[American Football League Most Valuable Player Award|AFL Most Valuable Player]] (1968)
* [[NFL Comeback Player of the Year]] (1974)
* [[American Football League Rookie of the Year|AFL Rookie of the Year]] (1965)
* First-team [[American Football League All-League Team|All-AFL]] ([[1968 All-AFL Team|1968]])
* Second-team [[All-Pro]] ([[1972 All-Pro Team|1972]])
* 3× Second-team All-AFL ([[1966 All-AFL Team|1966]], [[1967 All-AFL Team|1967]], [[1969 All-AFL Team|1969]])
* [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1973 Pro Bowl|1972]])
* 4× [[American Football League All-Star game|AFL All-Star]] (1965, 1967–1969)
* [[List of NFL annual passing yards leaders|NFL passing yards leader]] (1972)
* 2× [[List of National Football League season passing yards leaders#American Football League (AFL)|AFL passing yards leader]] (1966, 1967)
* [[List of NFL annual passing touchdowns leaders|NFL passing touchdowns leader]] (1972)
* [[George Halas Award]] (1969)
* [[American Football League All-Time Team|AFL All-Time Team]]
* [[New York Jets Ring of Honor]]
* [[New York Jets#Retired numbers|New York Jets No. 12]] retired 
* [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|National champion]] ([[1964 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|1964]])
* First-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1964 All-SEC football team|1964]])
* 2× Second-team All-SEC ([[1962 All-SEC football team|1962]], [[1963 All-SEC football team|1963]])
| statleague    = AFL/NFL
| statlabel1    = Passing attempts
| statvalue1    = 3,762
| statlabel2    = Passing completions
| statvalue2    = 1,886
| statlabel3    = Completion percentage
| statvalue3    = 50.1%
| statlabel4    = [[Touchdown|TD]]–[[Interception|INT]]
| statvalue4    = 173–220
| statlabel5    = Passing yards
| statvalue5    = 27,663
| statlabel6    = [[Passer rating]]
| statvalue6    = 65.5
| pfr           = N/NamaJo00
| HOF           = joe-namath
}}

'''Joseph William Namath''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|n|eɪ|m|ə|θ}}; {{respell|NAY|məth}}; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "'''Broadway Joe'''", is an American former professional [[American football|football]] [[quarterback]] who played in the [[American Football League]] (AFL) and [[National Football League]] (NFL) for 13 seasons. He spent the majority of his career with the [[New York Jets]]. Namath played [[college football]] for the [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|Alabama Crimson Tide]], where he won the [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championship]] as a senior, and was selected by the Jets first overall in the [[1965 AFL draft]].

During his five AFL seasons, Namath was a two-time [[American Football League Most Valuable Player Award|MVP]] and twice led the league in passing yards, while winning one [[American Football League playoffs|AFL championship]] and one [[Super Bowl]]. Both victories remain the Jets' only championships. Following the 1970 [[AFL–NFL merger]], he joined the NFL with the Jets, where he was the league's passing yards and touchdowns leader during the 1972 season. He played in New York for seven more seasons and spent his final year as a member of the [[Los Angeles Rams]].

Namath cemented his legacy in 1969 when he guaranteed his heavy underdog Jets would win [[Super Bowl III]] before defeating the NFL's [[Baltimore Colts]] in one of the greatest sports upsets of all time. The Super Bowl victory was the first for an AFL franchise, helping dismiss notions that its teams were inferior to the NFL's and demonstrating they would enter the merger as equals. Namath received [[Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award|Super Bowl MVP]] honors in the game, while also becoming the first quarterback to win both a college national championship and a major professional championship. He was inducted into the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] in 1985.