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#51
The Tailgate / Today in history 1-2
Last post by remrogers - January 02, 2026, 12:51:33 PM1965
Jan 2
Joe Namath spurns NFL to sign record deal with AFL's New York Jets
On January 2, 1965, quarterback Joe Namath spurns the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals to sign with the American Football League's New York Jets. The contract, reportedly for $427,000, is the most lucrative signed by a rookie in any sport. The deal with Namath, a star at the University of Alabama for head coach Bear Bryant, is a coup for the AFL.
"I took both teams into consideration," Namath told reporters in Miami Beach, Florida, where he signed the contract. "I wanted more than money. I was interested in the coach and the organization. New York City is a fine place. The sports fans are great and Weeb Ewbank is an outstanding coach."
Said Ewbank: "I see in this young man the same qualities as [Baltimore Colts star quarterback] Johnny Unitas. He has size, quickness, courage and a wonderful arm."
The AFL, founded in July 1959, was willing to do almost anything to lessen the NFL's grip on the sport. With television contracts beginning to pump big money into professional football, the league offered lucrative signing bonuses to the best players in college football.
"We feel that in getting Joe, we got the No. 1 college football player in America," Jets owner Sonny Werblin said at the news conference.
At least one New York columnist was impressed by Namath: "I'm convinced of one thing," wrote Dick Young of the New York Daily News. "The Jets aren't paying him enough."
Like almost any record-setting contract that would follow, however, Namath's deal was met with heavy criticism. Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell griped that ''contracts like the one Namath got can be the ruination of the game."
Contracts continued to increase, but the AFL and NFL agreed to merge in June 1966.
In 1969, before New York played Unitas' Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath famously guaranteed a victory. The future Hall of Famer's Jets beat the Colts, 16-7, in one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
Jan 2
Joe Namath spurns NFL to sign record deal with AFL's New York Jets
On January 2, 1965, quarterback Joe Namath spurns the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals to sign with the American Football League's New York Jets. The contract, reportedly for $427,000, is the most lucrative signed by a rookie in any sport. The deal with Namath, a star at the University of Alabama for head coach Bear Bryant, is a coup for the AFL.
"I took both teams into consideration," Namath told reporters in Miami Beach, Florida, where he signed the contract. "I wanted more than money. I was interested in the coach and the organization. New York City is a fine place. The sports fans are great and Weeb Ewbank is an outstanding coach."
Said Ewbank: "I see in this young man the same qualities as [Baltimore Colts star quarterback] Johnny Unitas. He has size, quickness, courage and a wonderful arm."
The AFL, founded in July 1959, was willing to do almost anything to lessen the NFL's grip on the sport. With television contracts beginning to pump big money into professional football, the league offered lucrative signing bonuses to the best players in college football.
"We feel that in getting Joe, we got the No. 1 college football player in America," Jets owner Sonny Werblin said at the news conference.
At least one New York columnist was impressed by Namath: "I'm convinced of one thing," wrote Dick Young of the New York Daily News. "The Jets aren't paying him enough."
Like almost any record-setting contract that would follow, however, Namath's deal was met with heavy criticism. Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell griped that ''contracts like the one Namath got can be the ruination of the game."
Contracts continued to increase, but the AFL and NFL agreed to merge in June 1966.
In 1969, before New York played Unitas' Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath famously guaranteed a victory. The future Hall of Famer's Jets beat the Colts, 16-7, in one of the greatest upsets in sports history.
#52
The Tailgate / Re: There is nothing like....
Last post by msmith - January 02, 2026, 11:10:40 AMQuote from: nastygunz on January 01, 2026, 03:53:04 PMWho wins a fist fight between Roy Rodgers and little Joe from the Bonanza?.
Follow up question, who wins a fist fight between Big Hoss Cartwright from the Bonanza and United States Marshal Matt Dillon ?.
It would be close but Mat Dillon every time.
Now...Kitty Russel and Victoria Barkley Jello wrestling with a bustle on
#53
Big Game / Re: Looking for tracks in the ...
Last post by nastygunz - January 01, 2026, 11:32:39 PMInteresting history!
#54
The Tailgate / Re: There is nothing like....
Last post by nastygunz - January 01, 2026, 11:30:33 PMThems chubby gills!.
#55
The Tailgate / Re: There is nothing like....
Last post by FinsnFur - January 01, 2026, 09:34:04 PMHibernate??
So you celebrated and hit er a lil too hard last night?
The Hooch!...not Mama
10 degrees here. I made one more trip out on the ice before I have to go back to work.
Left the couch behind
So you celebrated and hit er a lil too hard last night?
The Hooch!...not Mama
10 degrees here. I made one more trip out on the ice before I have to go back to work.
Left the couch behind
#57
Big Game / Re: Looking for tracks in the ...
Last post by Okanagan - January 01, 2026, 07:59:13 PMQuote from: msmith on January 01, 2026, 02:41:50 PMDefinitely in the middle of wilderness.
Tubal Cain "And as for Zillah, she also bore tubal Cain, and instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah"
You got it right! That's where the name came from, Genesis 4:22 in the Bible. Cool name for a copper mine!
The original Tubal Cain Trail was made for mule trains bringing ore out from the Tubal Cain mine. I think the ore was mainly copper, with some gold and silver. The mine shaft tunnels into the face of Iron Mountain. The original trail was probably 25 miles long in 1902, maybe 40, to reach a road. About 1969 a logging road pushed to this spot, 3 ½ miles from the mine. The miners lived at Tull City, a cluster of houses and maybe a store in a basin a mile from the mine. It's all abandoned and rotted away in the rain to almost nothing visible left.
My first time to the mine there was an old ore cart that ran on rails back into the mine, with rusted gear all around. I haven't hiked in to the mine in several years and I've heard people have carried off the old mining gear.
#58
The Tailgate / Re: There is nothing like....
Last post by nastygunz - January 01, 2026, 03:53:04 PMWho wins a fist fight between Roy Rodgers and little Joe from the Bonanza?.
Follow up question, who wins a fist fight between Big Hoss Cartwright from the Bonanza and United States Marshal Matt Dillon ?.
Follow up question, who wins a fist fight between Big Hoss Cartwright from the Bonanza and United States Marshal Matt Dillon ?.
#59
The Tailgate / There is nothing like....
Last post by nastygunz - January 01, 2026, 03:49:33 PMA cold winters day hibernating on the couch watching a Roy Rogers marathon.
#60
Big Game / Re: Looking for tracks in the ...
Last post by msmith - January 01, 2026, 02:41:50 PMDefinitely in the middle of wilderness.
Tubal Cain "And as for Zillah, she also bore tubal Cain, and instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah"
Tubal Cain "And as for Zillah, she also bore tubal Cain, and instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal Cain was Naamah"