The Super Bowl Guarantee

It wasn't supposed to end this way. The football pundits were wrong. The Vegas odds makers were way off base. In fact, anyone who thought they knew anything about professional football could not have been more mistaken. Everyone, that is, save for one Joe Willie Namath.

On the Thursday before Super Bowl III, the brash New York Jets quarterback had boldly 'guaranteed' a victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.

Super Bowl III, played in Miami on January 12, 1969, was actually the first of the NFL Championship games to be officially called the "Super Bowl." The two previous contests were referred to as the AFL-NFL Championship Game.

The NFL Champion Baltimore Colts, coached by Don Shula, came into the game having dismantled both the Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns in the playoffs, and finishing with a 13 - 1 regular season record.

The AFL Champion New York Jets were 11 - 3 during the regular season, and even though they had upset the favored Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship, suffered from the perception that even the best team from the upstart American Football League would be no match for the mighty NFL.

The Colts, however, were a surprise representative after legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas' was forced to the bench early in the season with a chronically sore elbow.

Earl Morrall, a career backup who had played for four different teams, filled Unitas' shoes in hall-of-fame fashion. On the way to a record breaking 13 - 1 season, Morrall claimed the NFL's Most Valuable Player award and finished with the highest passer rating in the league (93.2).

As precise and perfect as the offense had been, Baltimore's defense was even more impressive. The Colts defense, led by end Bubba Smith and middle linebacker Mike Curtis, were ranked first in the NFL in fewest points allowed (144, tying the then all-time league record), and ranked third in total rushing yards allowed (1,339). Baltimore won 10 in a row on the road to Super Bowl III, and in those 10 games the defense had allowed just seven touchdowns.

"The thing that probably got me going on the `guarantee' business and everything else on the week leading up to the game [was] anger," Joe Namath told a crowd that had assembled to mark the 30^th anniversary of the game. "You get angry when told you're going to lose, and lose big, day after day."

The New York Jets' run to Super Bowl III wasn't nearly as remarkable. Led by head coach Weeb Ewbank (a former head coach of the Baltimore Colts), the Jets barely squeaked by the Raiders, 27 - 23, in the AFL Championship Game. Namath had thrown for more than 3,000 yards during the regular season, but he also had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns. Still, the Jets has scored 419 points during the season, and did so on the running of Matt Snell and Emerson Boozer and the kicking leg of Jim Turner.

The Jets defense, which had given up 280 points, was largely overlooked despite having led the AFL in total rushing yards allowed (1,195).

"Our defense was underrated," recalled Jets guard Dave Herman. "All our [defensive] backs were signed as free agents, but practicing against Namath all the time made them excellent."

Both defenses set the tone for Super Bowl III. The Jets won the coin toss but only managed 15 yards on 5 plays and had to punt.

The Colts offense fared much better. Morrall took the team down to the Jets' 19-yard line only to have place-kicker Lou Micheals miss a field goal attempt.

For the rest of the first quarter the two teams traded punts and the Colts fell victim to miscues and turnovers. On the second play of the second quarter, Jets' cornerback Randy Beverly picked-off a Morrall pass in the end zone.

Behind a series of short passing darts thrown by Namath and the bruising running game of Matt Snell, the Jets scored the first touchdown and led 7 - 0. It marked the first time any AFL team had ever had a lead in a Super Bowl contest.

On the next drive, The Colts reached the Jets' 38-yard line, but once again Lou Micheals missed a field goal..

The Colts defense held the Jets in check for the balance of the half, but Morrall would be intercepted twice more - once on the Jets' 2-yard line and once as time expired - and the Colts would enter the locker room at half time trailing 7 - 0.

The Jets would control the ball for all but three minutes of the third quarter with two of their drives ending in Jim Turner field goals. When Turner kicked his third early in the fourth quarter, it put the Jets ahead 16 - 0.

"You could see it in their faces," running back Matt Snell remembered. "You could see the frustration and the worry."

Looking to somehow spark his offense, Colts coach Don Shula replaced Morrall with Johnny Unitas with four minutes left in the third quarter. But Unitas was unable to move his team, and after three plays the Colts were again forced to punt.

After Turner's third field goal, Unitas drove the Colts to the Jets' 25-yard line, but was intercepted in the end zone. It was the fourth interception of the day for the 'underrated' Jets defense.

Unitas would finally get the Colts in the endzone, but with only 3:19 to go in the game the outcome was ineviteable.

"I thought we could win all along," Namath recalled. "But until you do, you can't be sure. I'll admit, when Unitas came on the field, my heart almost stopped."

On this day, the magic belonged to Joe Willie Namath, who thanks to injuries and age would never reach the pinnacle of his sport again. He finished Super Bowl III having completed 17 of 28 passes, but not one was for a touchdown. Surprisingly, Namath is the only Super Bowl quarterback to be named an MVP without completing at least one touchdown pass.

Earl Morrall - the MVP of the National Football League that year - had his worst day as a pro, completing just 6 of 17 passes for 71 yards and 3 interceptions.

Years after Super Bowl III, Earl Morrall told the Baltimore Sun, "I thought we would win handily. We'd only lost twice in our last thirty games. I'm still not sure what happened that day at the Orange Bowl."

None of us are, Earl, it simply wasn't supposed to end this way.