[Colts And Orioles]

o


While Namath's overall stats were certainly sub-par, the era that he played in also needs to be taken into consideration when doing so. Ken Stabler had 194 TD passes and 222 INT's, and he was the beneficiary of standing behind one of the greatest offensive lines of all time for 8 seasons between 1972 and 1979 before being traded to the Oilers in 1980. He also played more of his career after the rules were altered to significantly help quarterbacks and their receivers than Namath did (in 1974, 1977, and 1978 the 3 biggest rule changes were made in regard to allowing defenders to bump receivers before the ball was in the air) ...... Stabler's last full season as a starting quarterbacks was 1983, while Namath's last full season as a starting quarterback was 1976.

Even Johnny Unitas, who some would argue was the greatest quarterback of all-time, had what we would now view as pedestrian career stats with 290 TD passes, 253 INT's, and a 54.6% Completion Percentage ........ if Carson Wentz has that kind of season in 2021 (21 TD passes, 18 INT's, and a 54.6% Completion Percentage), televisions sets all over the greater Indianapolis area will be broken by enraged Colts fans.



So while one can argue one way or the other in regard to whether or not Namath deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame, his sup-par stats (173 TD Passes, 220 INT's, and a 50.1% Completion Percentage) need to viewed in the proper context of the era in which he played in (1965 through 1976 for the Jets, and 4 games with the Rams in 1977.)

o