Namath Helps Make the Merger Complete

The merger between the National Football League and the American Football League occurred in 1966.

But the two leagues never seemed whole until a cocky 25-year-old quarterback named Joe Willie Namath made it so, 30 years ago today.

Green Bay had won the first two Super Bowls handily and the Baltimore Colts were 18- to 20-point favorites to beat Namath’s New York Jets at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

But Namath didn’t just predict a Jet victory.

“We will win it, I guarantee it,” he said.

And win the Jets did, 16-7.

He even told reporters how the Jets would get the old AFL’s first Super Bowl victory, saying he saw a lot of weaknesses in Baltimore’s zone pass defense and he intended to exploit them.

That’s exactly what he did. Namath, behind superb pass blocking, completed 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards, wide receiver George Sauer catching 133 yards’ worth. The other key weapon was fullback Matt Snell, who rushed for 121 yards and caught four passes for 40 yards.

Also on this date: In 1946, grocery chain heir Dan Reeves made an announcement that changed the face of pro sports in America.

He was moving his Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles, he said.

In Cleveland, it was a shocker. Just the previous month, the Rams had won the NFL championship.

But the Cleveland Rams averaged only 19,402 fans. By the 1950s, the Rams often drew 100,000-plus crowds at the Coliseum.

Years later, major league baseball, basketball and hockey followed the Rams out West.