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If Namath played in St. Louis at the time he would be a complete after thought. I would rate Plunkett and Brodie and possibly Gabriel as better contemporary passers.
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Jim Plunkett was barely a contemporary of Namath's, and threw a shotput--one of the ugliest balls I have ever seen (with apologies to Bobby Douglass). John Hadl would be a more apt comparison to Namath, given their attachment to the old AFL and its love for the long pass and flair for the big play.
I doubt Namath would ever have been an "afterhought" regardless of where he played,and I would suggest that had he quarterbacked the Chiefs or Raiders, he would have led those teams to even more success than they enjoyed as the dominant teams of that time. Note that Namath was voted/named the quarterback on the all-time AFL team, ahead of Dawson, Kemp, et al.
I was no fan of Joe Willie, especially as I lived and died with Johnny U's Colts. Still, I recall him being an incredible player to watch, and stats aside, the following tributes (per Wikipedia) are pretty high praise from those who would know:
"Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh stated that Namath was "the most beautiful, accurate, stylish passer with the quickest release [he'd] ever seen." Hall of Fame coach Don Shula stated that Namath was "one of the three smartest quarterbacks of all time."
12-09-2014, 09:56 AM
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