Namath likes Garoppolo’s game and style
For Joe Namath, quarterbacking wasn’t so much a skill as it was an attitude. That might be why Namath is a fan of Jimmy Garoppolo.
Namath is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame not because of his numbers, but because of what he brought to the game in terms of style, panache and leadership. He led the 18point underdog Jets to victory over Baltimore in Super Bowl III in 1969. The Jets won because they knew they could because Namath told the world they would.
Garoppolo’s no Namath, not yet. Jimmy G’s first Super Bowl experience was kind of the opposite of Namath’s. Still, Garoppolo got the 49ers to within one quarter of a Super Bowl title, and did it with a style that has similarities to Namath’s.
I called Namath to talk about the condition of his brain, and I took the opportunity to ask him about the 49ers’ quarterback.
“I liked Garoppolo before he got there, when he was in Illinois, at that small school,” Eastern Illinois, Namath said. “I was tickled that he got drafted and was with the Patriots. I’ve liked him ever since I saw him in college, and I still think a great deal of his abilities
and the way he carries himself . ... I like his style.”
That’s high praise coming from the man who defined cool. Broadway Joe, Fu Manchu mustache, white shoes, a style he carried onto the field. In an Associated Press poll of football writers and historians last year, Namath was voted pro football’s alltime greatest character, ahead of Al Davis, John Madden and Brett Favre.
I told Namath there were similarities between him and Garoppolo, who has an unforced charm and a knack for leadership while remaining one of the fellas.
“It’s great to hear that he’s that kind of guy,” Namath said, “and that his teammates can appreciate him, and he appreciates them. He knows he’s not doing it all himself. He can flat play, I know that. And that coach is pretty damn sharp. And look at that defense, and the way (Nick) Bosa’s playing . ... Well, that’s a hell of a team they’ve got.”
Yes, Namath, 76, keeps up with football and life and is razor sharp as ever. About six years ago, I ran into Namath at an event where he extolled the virtues of hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT). He had just undergone 120 treatments in a hyperbaric chamber and said the “dives” rejuvenated areas of his brain that may have been damaged by football. He said he sustained five concussions and hundreds of bellringings.
So my first question: “How’s your brain?”
“It’s healthy, man. It’s healthy,” said Namath, who is sheltering at home in Jupiter, Fla.
Namath had his left hip replaced Feb. 10, completing the grand slam: two hip replacements and two knee replacements. Football and age have taken their toll on Namath’s joints, all but killing his golf game, but his head is good.
About 11 years ago at a youth football camp, Namath ran into an old teammate and good friend, Dave Herman. The former offensive lineman confided to Namath that he was worried about his brain. He was forgetting things, and the blanks were alarming.
Namath had no such symptoms, but “seeing the fear in his eyes, because he wasn’t afraid of anything when he played, I started thinking about my situation.”
Namath thought about how he hopes to hang around with a clear head to enjoy his two daughters and five grandchildren, and life. So he met with a neurologist who specializes in HBOT. Namath took some cognitive tests and a brain scan.
“The first scan showed that some of the cells on my upper left side temporal area had stopped functioning, had stopped getting blood flow,” Namath said.
Over a period of eight months, Namath had 120 “dives” — HBOT sessions. Then, more testing and another brain scan, which showed blood flowing to the area that had been nonfunctioning, indicating reawakening of the cells.
“I’m totally convinced that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is positive for every cell in your body,” Namath said, “especially from what I saw my brain do, literally, in a spec scan as recently as last year. I’m thankful, my brain is healthy.”
HBOT is recognized by the FDA for treatment of about 15 conditions, including diabetic wound healing and carbonmonoxide poisoning, but not yet for traumatic brain injury. So insurance doesn’t cover the steep cost.
Namath is a missionary for HBOT, spreading the word about a treatment that is used more extensively in Germany, Canada and other countries. He would like to see it made available and affordable to, among others, combat veterans with brain injuries. He believes a portable hyperbaric chamber should be available at every football and soccer game.
That’s one aspect of Namath’s life mission. As a player, he attracted the spotlight and the attention, but he was a team guy. Same now. He uses his name and his fame to raise money for his former teammates.
In 2017 he launched the Joe Namath Foundation, which raises funds for neurological research and for various children’s charities.
Namath recalled how, when he was growing up in Beaver Falls, Pa., his parents encouraged him to take part in fundraisers like the March of Dimes. He and his youth baseball teammates solicited donations in front of the local pool hall and dime store.
He’s now doing the same thing on a bigger scale.
“It’s about having respect for one another,” Namath said. “As a ballplayer, with your teammates, it’s a sincere understanding of how small we are in the makeup of everything — a grain of sand. We can do our share to try to help, and still live in a way that you have time for yourself.”