âBeyond Broadway Joe gives great insights into that famous Jets team and those individuals. A great read for any football fan and an absolute must for Jet fans.â âRex Ryan, former New York Jets coach
On the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the New York Jets' historic achievement, a nostalgic, inside look from the men who composed the team behind Joe Namathâs Super Bowl III win, filled with exclusive insights and stories from the surviving players, coaches, and management of that championship team whose victory changed the landscape of American football.
On January 12, 1969, the New York Jets astonished the nation when they beat the favored Baltimore Colts to win Super Bowl III. The key to the Jetsâ success was quarterback Joe Namath, whose superstar talent, revolutionary personality, cockiness, and charm made him an instant celebrity. But Namath didnât do it alone.
In Beyond Broadway Joe, the members of that legendary team share for the first time their often funny, sometimes poignant, and always perceptive personal stories and memorable anecdotes about the Super Bowl team, its players and coaches, and that legendary win. They reminisce about how they became Jets, their success on the gridironâten of them were AFC All Stars that magical year of 1968âand reveal for the first time the tactic Namath used to frustrate the Baltimore Coltsâ defense. They speak about their reactions to Namathâs "guarantee" of a Jets' Super Bowl victory, and how the "39 Forgotten" Jets behind him enabled Joe to fulfill that boast. Furthermore, Lederer has interviewed members of the Baltimore team, to provide a 360-degree account of the game that changed it all.
The Jets players reflect on their evolution from a team considered part of a "Mickey Mouse" league, through the sudden transformation caused by the signing and introduction of Joe Namath on Americaâs sporting scene. The book explains from different anglesâincluding Jetsâ game plansâwhy Jetsâ coaches and players were supremely confident going into Super Bowl III. Written by a lifelong Jetsâ fan, Beyond Broadway Joe captures memoriesâand through never-before-seen materialâsheds light on what happened from the 1963 launch of the Jets to the Super Bowl season and in Super Bowl III itself.
This first complete celebration of the Jetsâ Super Bowl team is a must for every Jets diehard, for fans of the old American Football League, those who follow the history of professional football, and for all who love the game.