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Joe Willie
Posted on 7/20/17 at 3:47 am
Posted on 7/20/17 at 3:47 am
Namath got his nickname "Broadway Joe" from his teammate offensive lineman Sherman Plunkett who coined the name after seeing this SI cover photo. This pic was summer before his first NFL game. Trivia: Joe was first NFL player to wear white shoes. The Jets assumed he wore white shoes late in his Bama career, and thus special ordered them. White shoes then took off all across the country in a variety of sports. But what's interesting is that he NEVER wore white shoes at Bama despite what you see in old pics and video....because of lingering ankle injuries he started heavily taping his ankles by wrapping the white tape around his shoes for extra protection and them trimming with scissors, see bottom pic.
This post was edited on 7/20/17 at 4:14 am
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Posted on 7/20/17 at 6:17 am to Tidemeister
he is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES........ 
Posted on 7/20/17 at 6:49 am to Tidemeister
quote:
heavily taping his ankles by wrapping the white tape around his shoes
From what I can tell that bottom pic doesn't match what you are saying. Looks like he neatly tapped around the shoe to either make them white or to cover up the brand. Maybe this way tighten the grip of the shoe adding pressure, but that pic does not seem to show he wrapped up around the ankle including the shoe.
Posted on 7/20/17 at 8:05 am to Tidemeister
I met Namath on the sideline of the 1981 Iron Bowl.
He was with a group of Bama people and he stopped and told them "to excuse him for a moment, he had to go over and talk to his Auburn friends".
We obviously didn't know him from Adam's housecat (being Auburn Marching Band members), but he took time to come say hello and shake our hands right before halftime of the Bear's "record breaker" game.
You'll never hear me say a bad word about Broadway Joe. Has (or had) every reason in the world to be an arrogant, stuck-up a-hole and he was the exact opposite.
He was with a group of Bama people and he stopped and told them "to excuse him for a moment, he had to go over and talk to his Auburn friends".
We obviously didn't know him from Adam's housecat (being Auburn Marching Band members), but he took time to come say hello and shake our hands right before halftime of the Bear's "record breaker" game.
You'll never hear me say a bad word about Broadway Joe. Has (or had) every reason in the world to be an arrogant, stuck-up a-hole and he was the exact opposite.
This post was edited on 7/20/17 at 8:06 am
Posted on 7/20/17 at 8:42 am to beatbammer
He made the AFL legit.
Posted on 7/20/17 at 8:59 am to Tidemeister
I read his biography a few years ago. Great book. The Bama stuff was OK but the stuff about him in New York was amazing. I wish I could remember all the details of his apartment but I think it had a purple velvet covered bar and white shag carpeting so deep it went above your ankles.
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