Today we’re celebrating the 77th birthday of Broadway Joe Namath! One of the most iconic athletes of all time, Namath helped shape the football landscape in the 1960-70s. After a decorated career at the University of Alabama, Namath was selected in the NFL (by the St. Louis Cardinals) and the AFL (by the New York Jets).
Namath’s emergence in the New York market and his stunning victory in Super Bowl 3 was one of the catalysts for the AFL-NFL merger. Namath became arguably the face of the NFL during this period. He parlayed that into many advertising opportunities and was a pitchman for many products.
All of his on-field and off-field accolades have led to Namath being one of the most highly collected players of his era. Namath’s 1965 Topps Rookie card is one of the most iconic cards in Football history. The cheapest sale on eBay in the last 90 days is $565 and a PSA 8 copy sold for $20,100 on March 3.