"I'm always gonna be Joe Namath, and I'm not running from that." — Joe Namath

After my first knee operation, in January of '65 before I went to the Jets, Dr. James Nicholas told me everything went well and that I could probably play four years in the NFL. The surgery was trailblazing to a certain extent.

Most of my recognition comes from us winning that championship. The words may not come out - 'Super Bowl III' - because a lot of the folks at the grocery store, gas station or mall weren't even born when we won the Super Bowl. But they're aware of it. It has had a tremendous impact on my life since then.

The name of the game is 'kill the quarterback.' Every football team tries to knock the guy out of the game that's handling the ball.

I think I could have become an outstanding professional baseball player, but I don't think I could have reached the heights that I have in football - being one of the very top players in the game, being a world champion.