Joe Namath, 1965. Photo: New York Jets / Wikimedia Commons, public domain
By David Sher
Have you ever had the opportunity to meet a really big celebrity?
Better yet, did that celebrity actually speak to you?
If so, chances are you remember exactly what was said.
I certainly do.
Joe Namath once spoke directly to me, and I have never forgotten his words.
But First, Who Is Joe Namath?
I recently started to tell this story to a friend in her 30s.
I mentioned Joe Namath.
She looked at me and said something like, “Who is Joe Namath? I think I’ve heard of him.”
I was dumbfounded.
Who is Joe Namath?
That may have been the moment I realized just how old I am.
For those who need the introduction, Joe Namath was one of the most famous football players in America.
I attended the University of Alabama from 1961 to 1965, when Bear Bryant was building Alabama into a football powerhouse.
Namath played quarterback for Alabama from 1962 through 1964 and helped lead the Crimson Tide to the 1964 national championship.
After Alabama, he signed with the New York Jets and became “Broadway Joe.”
A few days before Super Bowl III in January 1969, the Jets were heavy underdogs against the Baltimore Colts. Namath did something almost unheard of.
He guaranteed the Jets would win.
They did, 16–7, and Namath was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
He went on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and became one of the first football players to become a genuine pop-culture celebrity. He even famously appeared in a television commercial wearing pantyhose.
That was Joe Namath.
And I knew him.
Well, perhaps “knew him” is stretching things a little.
My Wife Knew Him Even Better
My wife actually had a biology class with Namath at Alabama.
At least she was supposed to.
She says she rarely saw him.
I will leave it to others to speculate about Joe Namath’s commitment to biology.
Then Came My Big Moment
My friend Jack and I had a routine at Alabama.
We would go to the library to study and afterward head over to a little hamburger place called The Little Cookie.
It had a long counter with stools lined up in front of it.
One evening Jack and I sat down at the counter and ordered our hamburgers.
A few minutes later, there was a little commotion.
Joe Namath had walked in with several of his football buddies.
This was not just another student walking into a hamburger joint.
This was Joe Namath.
And then something remarkable happened.
Of all the empty stools in that restaurant, Namath sat down right next to me.
I tried to act completely normal.
My hamburger arrived.
I ate.
I talked to Jack.
I pretended there was nothing unusual about sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with the most famous athlete on campus.
Then Joe Namath turned toward me.
He looked directly at me.
Here it was.
My moment with greatness.
Joe Namath opened his mouth and spoke the words I would remember for the rest of my life:
“Hey buddy, pass the salt.”
David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).
Much like the time I met the President of the United States. Richard Nixon came to town for some event and as a radio newsman, I got a press pass and a chance to meet him very briefly. I thought long and hard about what I would say to the most powerful man on the planet. Something profound he would take back to DC with him, think about, and do or say something that would change the course of history. But when he passed me, I shook his hand, had my picture taken, but the only thing I could say was, “Pleased to meet you!”
In 2002 we (Alabama Humanities Foundation) presented Harper Lee with her first public award at our annual luncheon. She was quite gregarious at the pre-luncheon reception, talking eagerly with the attendees. A sharp contrast to her supposedly reclusive reputation. (She actually just resisted the media, not the public.) At the luncheon itself the 600+ attendees awaited with bated breath to hear her remarks after her good friend, the writer Wayne Greenhaw, presented her with the award. Did she have a secret relationship with Gregory Peck? Would she reveal that Truman Capote actually wrote To Kill a Mockingbird? Ms Lee simply said, “From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” and sat down.
Completely unrelated footnote to my comment about Harper Lee. David, if you were still dining at the Little Cookee in summer 1970, you might have enjoyed a tasty burger grilled by yours truly. I worked there as a short order cook the summer before my senior year at Tuscaloosa High. I don’t recall ever serving—or even seeing—as famous a celebrity as Broadway Joe.
😄
Much like the time I met the President of the United States. Richard Nixon came to town for some event and as a radio newsman, I got a press pass and a chance to meet him very briefly. I thought long and hard about what I would say to the most powerful man on the planet. Something profound he would take back to DC with him, think about, and do or say something that would change the course of history. But when he passed me, I shook his hand, had my picture taken, but the only thing I could say was, “Pleased to meet you!”
In 2002 we (Alabama Humanities Foundation) presented Harper Lee with her first public award at our annual luncheon. She was quite gregarious at the pre-luncheon reception, talking eagerly with the attendees. A sharp contrast to her supposedly reclusive reputation. (She actually just resisted the media, not the public.) At the luncheon itself the 600+ attendees awaited with bated breath to hear her remarks after her good friend, the writer Wayne Greenhaw, presented her with the award. Did she have a secret relationship with Gregory Peck? Would she reveal that Truman Capote actually wrote To Kill a Mockingbird? Ms Lee simply said, “From the bottom of my heart, thank you,” and sat down.
Completely unrelated footnote to my comment about Harper Lee. David, if you were still dining at the Little Cookee in summer 1970, you might have enjoyed a tasty burger grilled by yours truly. I worked there as a short order cook the summer before my senior year at Tuscaloosa High. I don’t recall ever serving—or even seeing—as famous a celebrity as Broadway Joe.