American Football · 1969 · Miami, USA
Namath's Guarantee
Three days after publicly guaranteeing victory over an 18-point-favourite Baltimore Colts team, a brash young quarterback backs it up, forcing the NFL to take the rival American Football League seriously.
Jets 16-7 Colts
Result
Colts favoured by 18
Pre-game spread
206, 0 INT
Namath passing yards
The New York Jets of the American Football League were 18-point underdogs against the NFL's Baltimore Colts heading into Super Bowl III, a gap that reflected the older league's presumed superiority after two lopsided championship defeats in the first two Super Bowls. At a Miami Touchdown Club dinner days before the game, Jets quarterback Joe Namath responded to a heckling Colts fan by declaring, 'We're going to win the game. I guarantee it.'
On 12 January 1969 Namath backed the words up, completing 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards without a single interception, methodically working the Colts' defence while Matt Snell's rushing touchdown and three Jim Turner field goals did the scoring. The Jets defence, in turn, intercepted Baltimore's passers four times.
New York won 16-7, still regarded as one of the biggest upsets in American sports history, and Namath was named the game's MVP. The result forced a shift in perception that helped accelerate the full AFL-NFL merger completed the following season, and made Namath's guarantee one of the most quoted lines in Super Bowl lore.
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