Meeting Broadway Joe

On the 45th anniversary of the greatest day in New York Jets history, I'm reminiscing about the time my youngest son and I met one of my all-time heroes, Joe Namath.  It happened on the Sunday morning of November 26, 2006 in the Meadowlands complex, just a few hours before a Jets-Texans game.

An autobiography of Namath had just been published, and he was scheduled to sign copies of it inside a large tent in the parking lot.  A 10-year Jets season ticket holder by this point, I asked my teenage son if he wanted to get to the Meadowlands early, skip our traditional tailgate party, and wait on a long line to meet Namath that day.  Thankfully, he did.

The line outside the tent was longer than we expected.  Eventually, we made it inside "the pearly gates" as another fan dubbed it.  Some of us were beginning to worry that Namath would be done signing before we could meet him.  We should have known better.  As the line moved slowly, very slowly, towards Namath, I decided we should buy two books, one for my son to keep.

We eventually made our way to the front of the line, and I snapped a few pictures of Namath -- I didn't want to be fumbling with a camera when it was our turn, especially since it was requested people not pose with Namath in order to keep the line moving.  Finally, we walked up to a grinning Namath, wearing tinted glasses and looking as cool as he did 30-40 years earlier.

"Thanks for making us proud to be Jets fans," I said to Namath.  He asked us where we wanted him to sign the books and, as he autographed the first, I whispered to my son Kevin that Namath was wearing his Super Bowl ring.  Namath must have heard me because he looked up at Kevin and said, "Here, try it on."

Awestruck, I watched as my son Kevin took the ring from Namath and put it on his hand.  We both stared at it as Namath autographed our second book.  After what seemed like a minute but was most likely just 15-20 seconds, Kevin handed Namath back the ring and they both smiled at each other.

"Thanks, Joe," I said as we prepared to walk away with our autographed books.  "We love you."

I took a couple more pictures as Namath prepared to sign the next person's book, and then we left the tent, beaming.  We beamed throughout the game, which the Jets won to seal a wonderful day.

When I recounted our meeting with Namath and showed our pictures to my grandmother shortly afterwards, she also began to beam.  She confided something to me that she probably would not have if my grandfather, a Jets fan, was still alive:  She understood why women were attracted to Namath -- she herself always found him very charismatic.

On this 45th anniversary of the New York Jets huge upset win over the mighty Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, I again thank Joe Namath for making us proud to be Jets fans.
             

Will Super Bowl upstage Beyond Thunderdome?

To a group of long-time New York Jets fans who enjoy a good party as much as a good football game, their team’s ascent to a second straight AFC Championship game this Sunday poses a potential dilemna: Will this year’s Super Bowl capture their attention more than the announcement of the annual Beyond Thunderdome Award winner?

Huh? The Beyond Thunderdome Award? Let me explain.

The Beyond Thunderdome Award (the mounted lightning bolt and crushed Budweiser can by the Jets Shop pictured on the right) was created shortly after the 1985 movie of the same name by Danny to commemorate the craziest of the wild antics he and Werner, Roy, Bobby and Mike – longtime friends and Jets season ticketholders since 1977 -- indulged in on autumn Sundays.

Every Super Bowl Sunday at Roy and his wife RoseAnn’s annual party, the Beyond Thunderdome Award recipient is announced. The winner proudly accepts the award, thanking everyone for recognizing the zany act that earned them the award from the gang of five, and promises to prominently display the trophy to family and friends during the next 12 months.

My wife Noreen and I earned the award last year for, uh, drowning a bit too much in our sorrow that Giants Stadium would be soon giving way to the monstrosity now known as the New Meadowlands Stadium (yeah, that’s right) in the parking lot before a game. As the first winners outside of the original circle of friends, we proudly displayed the Beyond Thunderdome Award inside our house and at our vacation home. I even carried it to work in New York City one day for a photo session, an act that touched Danny deeply.

What recent recipients like Noreen and I did to earn the award, however, pale in comparison to the acts of those who inspired the award and were the among the first to hoist it proudly. Danny scavenged other tailgaters’ leftover snacks and firewood after kickoff on a cold Sunday to win it one year. Werner, perhaps dreaming of fulfilling his wish to be the lights on a fire engine, fell asleep during a game while his friends tossed food into his wide-open mouth, to win it another year. Roy gave a cranky and overwhelmed parking lot attendant too many pieces of his mind to win it a few years later. Bobby dreamed of his friend Roy while having fun at a park (don’t ask) to win it once.

The Shea Stadium years, which started with all five friends under 30 and single, were the wildest. According to stories, Mike would’ve won the award more than once if it had been conceived by then. Those Jets lost more games than they won, habitually disappointing fans whose memory of the 1969 Super Bowl was still relatively fresh, and Shea Stadium seemed to quickly deteriorate. But, there was still fun to be had. Sometimes, too much. But, the gang of five all survived to tell about it…and create the Beyond Thunderdome Award a few years after the team moved to the Meadowlands.

I got my season tickets in 1996 from an acquaintance of Roy and often joined him and his friends for pre-game festivities in the parking lot. A few years later, the group expanded to include Roy’s nephew Ryan, whose young son almost won the award for appearing to imitate the grownups’ behavior in the back of a pickup truck (again, don’t ask).

Who will win it this year? As the old gang gets, well, older, it’s not always easy to predict. RoseAnn won it a few years ago, when the men were particularly tame, for being such a great Super Bowl party hostess. No doubt, she will be a great hostess again. When the Jets win in Pittsburgh this Sunday and advance to their second Super Bowl in 42 years, the big question will be: Is the Beyond Thunderdome Award in danger of being upstaged by the Super Bowl?
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Upper left photo, Beyond Thunderdome Award winners Bobby, Danny, Noreen, Charley, Werner, Roy, RoseAnn