1960s — Joe Namath’s Super Bowl Guarantee
In 1967, the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game took place. Known retroactively as Super Bowl I, the game pitted the Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) against the Green Bay Packers (NFL). Green Bay won, 35-10. The next season, the Packers took down the Oakland Raiders by a score of 33-14. So, when Super Bowl III came around, the AFL’s New York Jets were a massive underdog. Pitted against the Baltimore Colts — who boasted the NFL’s best defense and second-best offense — the Jets were all but counted out by the country. In advance of the game, Jets’ QB Joe Namath made a shocking guarantee, “We’re gonna win the game. I guarantee it.” In one of football’s biggest upsets, the Jets made good on Namath’s prediction and defeated the Colts, 16-7.
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