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After a couple of years of frustrating injuries, Namath's return to the game now seems complete. His Jets will not likely go on to the Super Bowl this year—their defense simply does not measure up—but under Namath's creative guidance they should continue to be the most daring and resourceful riders on the pro football plains. As for Namath himself—well, no one changes overnight, and things would not be as much fun if Joe Namath did. He has mellowed somewhat. He takes care of his family and invests his money in restaurants off suspiciously beaten paths. As he reflects: "Football has been great for me. You learn discipline and dedication, and there's a lot of competitive spirit. You can't cheat anybody out there. Football is a humbling game and even humiliating at times." Namath continues: "I'd like to play as long as I can, but then I might like to go into something else, perhaps get into the movies more than I have." For a wonder, Joe Willie, lion of the singles bars, can even see marriage away off on the horizon. "Sure, some day I'd like to settle down," he admits. "I'd like to have a lady put up with me, raise a family, set up a house, have a home. But I know I'm just not ready for it. I like to move around a lot."
He still moves around with the same wolfish swagger that drugstore idolaters everywhere have tried to imitate. Yet there is a discernible difference in the Namath style. He now says things like "I pray every night when I go to bed —when I can." Like wayward Tom, Joe Willie has cheated the various nooses that could have slipped round his neck—by the simple expedient of growing up.
* The Los Angeles Rams' Norman Van Brocklin piled up 554 yds. against the feeble New York Yankees in 1951, while Y.A. Tittle of the Giants gained 504 yds. against the equally hapless Washington Redskin team in 1962. -Namath has since moved to another East Side apartment near more sedate Park Avenue; the llama rug is gone.