Namath was born and raised in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania (30 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh), and grew up in its Lower End neighborhood. He is the son of Catholic parents, Rose (nee Juhasz) and Janos "John" Andrew Namath, a steelworker. His parents were of Hungarian descent. His Hungarian-born grandfather, Andras "Andrew" Nemeth, known as "A.J." to his family and friends, came to Ellis Island on the steamer Pannonia in 1911, and worked in the coal and steel industries of the greater Pittsburgh area.

The high point of Namath's career was his performance in the Jets' 16-7 win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III in January 1969, shortly before the AFL-NFL merger. The first two interleague championship games had resulted in blowout victories for the NFL's Green Bay Packers, and sports writers from NFL cities insisted the AFL would take several more years to be truly competitive. The 1968 Colts were touted as "the greatest football team in history", and former NFL star and Atlanta Falcons head coach Norm Van Brocklin ridiculed the AFL before the game, saying "This will be Namath's first professional football game." Three days before the game, Namath was tired of addressing the issue in the press, and he responded to a heckler at a sports banquet in Miami with the line: "We're going to win the game. I guarantee it." Namath backed up his boast, which became legendary. The Colts' vaunted defense (highlighted by Bubba Smith) was unable to contain either the Jets' running or passing game, while the ineffective offense gave up four interceptions to the Jets. Namath was the Super Bowl MVP, completing eight passes to George Sauer alone for 133 yards. The win made him the first quarterback to start and win a national championship game in college, a major professional league championship, and in a Super Bowl. The Jets' win gave the AFL instant legitimacy even to skeptics. When he was asked by reporters after the game whether the Colts' defense was the "toughest he had ever faced", Namath responded, "That would be the Buffalo Bills' defense." The AFL-worst Bills had intercepted Namath five times, three for touchdowns, in their only win in 1968 in late September.

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