He Is Off-Broadway but Still Outspoken

Joe Namath, who led the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III, was in Los Angeles this week speaking to groups of arthritis sufferers about his battles with the disease. He has formed Joe Namath’s Arthritis Huddle and travels around the country touting a drug called Mobic.

Football took its toll. He can’t close his hands. Ten years ago, he had both knees replaced. He has suffered torn ligaments in both shoulders and a broken wrist, ankle, ribs and cheekbone. He once lost feeling in his left foot for four years.

His opinions are as strong as ever, though, and he shared a few:

Question: Considering you’ve had arthritis since 1965, is it hard to get out of bed in the morning?

Answer: I only have it in my hands and my neck, and I’ve been able to deal with that through exercise and medication. But there were times as an athlete I couldn’t get out of bed the day after a game. I used to say, ‘Holy cow, I’m just a quarterback. What happens to the running backs who get hit every play?’ But there are folks that are debilitated certainly, especially when it gets into the back and the neck.

Q: How did the death of Johnny Unitas affect you?

A: It was a shock. I had just seen Johnny a couple of months before, and he was as mellow and happy and good looking as I’ve ever seen him. He was in good shape. This was a real shocker.... It was unexpected and we lost him. It was really scary. When someone that’s a peer and a friend leaves this earth, it’s another eye-opener of how fragile this life is.

Q: There are so many parallels between you and Unitas. You both grew up in Western Pennsylvania, both went to college in the South, both had hall-of-fame careers, and both finished your careers with West Coast teams -- you with the Rams, Unitas with the Chargers. Were you kindred spirits?

A: Yes. We both came from blue-collar families, and if it wasn’t for athletics, we’d probably both still be working in the steel mills. But athletics was a way to get a scholarship, and our parents, being old country people, couldn’t afford to send us to school. They helped us with athletics because it was a way out of the steel mills.

Q: You lived in Los Angeles for a decade. Is this place lacking without an NFL team?

A: Absolutely. I think it’s one of the most confounding things. I just don’t understand how it’s not been able to be worked out. I know money’s a problem from somewhere. I think everyone in sports would love to see Los Angeles have its own football team -- including the people in Los Angeles.

Q: Vinny Testaverde is out, and Chad Pennington is in as quarterback of the New York Jets. What do you think of Pennington?

A: Pennington I’ve known since he’s come to the Jets. I knew of him certainly before that. He has continued to improve. He is certainly the quarterback of the Jets now. And then the team just didn’t play well -- including Vinny -- in the early part of the year. And Pennington’s got a shot, and there’s new enthusiasm there. He’s a real winner, and that carries a lot of weight. I like his attitude. I really like his passing accuracy and his decision making. He’s a smart kid. He knows where to go with the ball in a fast amount of time. I think only with more work he’ll become better oiled and more efficient. He’s the quarterback of the Jets right now, and will be in the near future.

Q: Some people have called him the best Jet quarterback since Namath. How can he prove he isn’t a flash-in-the-pan success?

A: He’s going to need to worry about what’s going to be shoulder to shoulder with him. The quarterback’s success is going to be predicated on the success of the rest of the team. Very rarely do you see a losing team with a quarterback that’s done a great job. Without the kind of team you’d like to have to win a championship, there’s not a quarterback that’s going to reach his potential, or continue to improve without being surrounded by a high quality of player.

Q: Is he surrounded by high-quality players?

A: No. I was absolutely stunned a couple weeks ago when I heard the New York Jets have the highest payroll ($87.3 million) in the league. I said, ‘How? Why? What have they done to get in that position?’ The one thing I know is that the new owner, Woody Johnson, has gone out of his way. To pay as much money as he did for the franchise is pretty remarkable. And then to try and keep the nucleus of players he has there by paying them a good buck, he’s really gone out of his way to show that he wants to win. I know he wants to win. But the players are just not playing up to the caliber of high-paid guys. It’s ridiculous. For the Jets to have the highest-paid team in the league ... boy, those players ought to thank Mr. Johnson every day of the week a few times.

Q: What do you think of the league’s changing rules to enhance scoring?

A: I like it. As a player, up until 1977, we had rules that made it very difficult on an offense. Can you imagine being a pass blocker or run blocker and not being able to extend your arms? That’s all you see out there today is shoving and pushing when it comes to blocking. The rules changes have helped football, and I’ve always been in favor of that.

Q: What about the crackdown on helmet-to-helmet hits?

A: Quarterback has always been a very dangerous position, standing there with people falling all around you and throwing you down. If you’re going to play football you’re going to get hurt. But this helmet-to-helmet stuff? We know that can cause very serious injuries. Now the players are balking at that because they say, ‘This is the way we’ve been shown over the years, this is the way we play, and we’re not going to change.’ Well, I’ve got news for you: They have to change. If the rules change, they have to change. We’re looking to knock somebody down and out every play, but we’re not looking to maim them. We’re not looking to cripple them.