Pro Football Hall Of Fame vs Hall of Stats

[Pryderi]

Should Joe Namath be in the Pro Football HOF?

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm

Namath completed 50.1% of his passes, had 173 TD passes and 220 INTERCEPTIONS!

[NJmaverick]

1. I suspect it had more to do with his personal fame, than it did his playing

if you went by playing, Phill Simms would be there and not Broadway Joe.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. Different era, different style

Check his yards per catch. In those days, and especially in the AFL, quarterbacks didn't throw as many passes to the backs as they do now. The more you put a ball up deep, the more you're gonna get picked.

[Pryderi]

3. Receivers are largely responsible for yards per catch. If you look at "yards per attempt",

Tony Romo, Kurt Warner, Steve Young, and Ben Roethlisberger have a better "average yards per attempt" than Namath.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/pass_yds_per_att_career.htm

[PVnRT]

5. Not pre-merger

The AFL was known for gaudy offense in the pre-merger days, when Namath mostly played. After the merger, they incorporated NFL pass defense rules, which basically let defensive backs get away with everything short of murder until 1978.

[KG]

4. different brand of football played then. rules were different.

and the HOF is already the 'hall of stats'.

i'd like to see a loosening of restrictions on enshrinement so that 'famous' players, those that were exciting, fun to watch play even if their careers were short-lived, or had some impact on the game, should have a place, not just those that piled up stats. so in my view joe namath definitely has a place in canton.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

6. Here's a short Namath story.

At the end of his career he had a try out with the Rams when they were still in LA. I was cooking at a hotel restaurant where Joe was staying. He came in for breakfast,about 8:00am, wearing shades and had a blonde on his arm. She had eggs, he had coffee. After they sat down, of course.
The end.