Tag: Super Bowl III

1968 Jets named SI’s most influential team in NFL history

The Super Bowl-winning Jets gave the AFL credence and helped the NFL become a more competitive league once the merger finally happened.

There have been many great teams over the 100-plus years the NFL has been in existence. While some teams have been great on the field in a moment in time, others were great in the sense they helped the game become what it is today.

Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame, with a 31-person panel of NFL media, analysts and former front office members, recently created a list of the 50 most influential teams in the history of the NFL. The Jets found a place on this list — right at the very top.

Specifically, the 1968 New York Jets, the team that quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed would defeat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III as 18-point underdogs. The Jets would win 16-7, marking the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL after the Green Bay Packers knocked off the Kansas City Chiefs (35-10) and Oakland Raiders (33-14) in the first two Super Bowls.

The merger between the NFL and AFL has already been agreed to, but this win for the Jets helped prove the AFL could compete with the NFL. The following year, the AFL won its second straight Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 in Super Bowl IV, their lone Lombardi Trophy before Super Bowl LIV.

Here’s Verderame on why the 1968 Jets mattered:

In 1965, Alabama quarterback Joe Namath was selected with the No. 1 pick in the AFL draft and the No. 12 selection in the NFL draft, spurning the NFL for the riches of Sonny Werblin’s Jets, taking an eye-popping $427,000 contract.

In his fourth year with New York, Namath and a ferocious defense led the Jets to an AFL title and were 18-point underdogs to the one-loss Colts in Super Bowl III. To the shock of almost everyone—except Namath, who guaranteed they’d win the game—they won, 16–7, giving the upstart league its first victory in three tries over the established NFL.

While the 1970 AFL-NFL merger had already been agreed upon, the Jets’ victory is the most important in pro football history. The Jets showed the AFL was on par, something hammered home the following year by the ’69 Chiefs, who pummeled the Vikings—13-point favorites—in Super Bowl IV. Instead of the merger being seen as a necessary business decision that could hurt the sport from a competition standpoint, it established the AFL’s superiority over the best the NFL had to offer for the second consecutive year.

Moreover, the upset in Super Bowl III sparked additional interest in the AFL and the merger, giving a boost to a sport that was taking over the country by the late 1960s.

Game-used Joe Namath rookie jersey fetches over $100K at auction

A game-used 1965 Joe Namath rookie jersey sold for $118,230 in an auction.

Broadway Joe is still in high demand.

One of the most popular Jets of all-time, Joe Namath has fans clamoring for his memorabilia all these years later. A game-used jersey from Namath’s rookie season in 1965 sold for $118,230 at auction on Thursday.

That kind of money sums up Namath’s time in New York. Everyone wanted a piece of Broadway Joe. He was immensely popular not only for his play on the football field with the Jets, but also for his unique lifestyle.

Namath owned his own nightclub and was a talk show host as well. He was featured in many commercials and was also an actor and sports broadcaster.

Of course, Namath is best known for leading the Jets to a Super Bowl victory over the Baltimore Colts in 1968. He famously guaranteed that the Jets would pull off the upset; he kept his word and the Jets won, 16-7.

Statistically, Namath was not the greatest quarterback ever. He threw for 27,663 yards, 173 touchdowns and 220 interceptions in his career. However, he was good enough to be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

Paul Rochester, member of Jets’ Super Bowl III team, dead at 81

Paul Rochester, a member of the Jets’ Super Bowl III team has died at the age of 81.

Former Jets defensive tackle Paul Rochester died this past weekend at the age of 81.

A member of the Jets from 1963 to 1969, Rochester was part of the Super Bowl III team that upset the Colts. He spent the first few years of his career with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs.

Rochester is one of 20 players in football history to play from the beginning to the end of the American Football League. Throughout his time with the Jets, Rochester was a starting defensive tackle.

Most modern stats weren’t recorded back in the 60s, but Rochester did have two fumble recoveries and one sack in 1968 with the Jets. The sack came in the AFL Championship Game against the Oakland Raiders. It was the only sack of the entire game. The Jets then went on to beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

Rochester wasn’t looked at as one of the big names on those Jets teams back in the 60s. However, he did contribute in stopping the run game and opening up lanes for his fellow teammates.

“Paul was an underrated defensive tackle who played a major role on the Jets’ Super Bowl championship team,” former Jets public relations director Frank Ramos said. “He was a great run stopper who enabled defensive ends Gerry Philbin and Verlon Biggs to rush from the outside and John Elliott, the quick defensive tackle, to rush up the middle. Walt Michaels came up with a scheme to use undersized linebacker Carl McAdams at DT on passing downs, leading the 1968 Jets to have the number one defense in the AFL.”

From Super Bowl III to Adam Gase, Don Shula was a fixture in Jets history

Dolphins Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach in history, died on Monday. He was 90.

Don Shula, who won the most games of any NFL coach and led the Miami Dolphins to the only perfect season in league history, died on Monday at the age of 90.

A legendary coach and a fierce competitor, Shula won two of his five Super Bowl appearances and totaled 12 AFC East titles. His footprint can be felt all over the game of football, including the Jets organization. He died peacefully in his home surrounded by loved ones, according to the Dolphins.

“Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years,” the team said in a statement. “He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene. Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike.”

Although Shula won 347 games and had only two losing seasons in 33 years of coaching, there was always one loss in particular that stung more than the others. Before he cemented himself among NFL royalty in Miami, Shula coached the Baltimore Colts. He was the man in charge when the Colts lost Super Bowl III at the hands of Joe Namath and the Jets. The Jets became the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl after achieving one of the greatest upsets in sports history with a 16-7 route of Baltimore.

“Did it motivate me later on? I think I was always a pretty motivated guy as a student, as a player, as a coach, as a father,” Shula once said of the defeat, according to the New York Post. “But sure, it was something I had to learn to live with. It happens, and you can’t change that it happened, so you learn to live with it and you try to learn from it. Did it make me a better coach? Every game I lost helped make me a better coach.”

Shula’s Baltimore and Miami teams met with the Jets 56 times, including two of the most important games in Gang Green history of the franchise. In addition, to beating the Colts coach for Super Bowl III, Shula was also with the Dolphins for the Mud Bowl.

The Jets were forced to play Shula’s Dolphins twice a year. In Shula’s 26 years of coaching the Dolphins, his squad swept the Jets 11 times, including a three for three in 1982 that included the Mud Bowl. The Dolphins beat the Jets, 14-0, in that infamous game for that year’s AFC Championship game. Miami would go on to lose to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVII.

Shula played the Jets more than any opposing head coach. His 32 wins over Gang Green are second-most by any coach, with all 32 coming at helm of the Dolphins. The Jets’ 18 road losses at the hands of Shula-coached teams are the most against any coach in franchise history.

While Shula’s dominance over the Jets hasn’t carried forth to this day, his teachings and his legacy can be seen in the current team. More specifically, they can be seen in Adam Gase, who had a relationship with Shula when he coached the Dolphins from 2016-18.

“I want to extend my deepest condolences to Coach Shula’s family and the Miami Dolphins community,” Gase said in a statement. “Any time I got to spend with him was always the best part of my day. I truly enjoyed getting to know him and treasured each and every interaction we had. He was a fountain of information who was readily available to assist when asked. Coach Shula was rightly revered as a great coach and a better person. He will be missed tremendously.”

5 things to know about new Jets Hall of Famer Winston Hill

Five things to know about the Jets’ new Hall of Famer Winston Hill, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Wednesday.

Jets great Winston Hill was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame this week as part of the 2020 Centennial Class.

This class, which inducted 15 players, was created to celebrate the league’s 100th anniversary. Hill was honored posthumously, as he passed away in 2016 due to heart failure.

The Jets franchise isn’t exactly a storied one, but Hill helped cement one of the most iconic moments in team history. Now, he will finally be remembered with the game’s all-time greats.

Like the man he was responsible for protecting at left tackle, right tackle and center, Hill finished his career with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977 before calling it quits.

With that, let’s look back at the life of the newest Jet in the Hall of Fame.

Career Accolades

Winston Hill’s now Hall of Fame career was filled with accolades.

Hill was elected to four AFL All-Star teams and eventually four Pro Bowls following the AFL-NFL merger. Hill was also a three-time All-AFL recipient and a three-time NFL All-Pro.

A starter on the only championship team in franchise history, Hill was named to the Jets’ Ring of Honor in 2010.

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