Alabama SI Cover Tournament: Dreams of Glory in Green Bay (Bart Starr) vs. Back to Work, Joe Namath!

Help BamaCentral determine which Alabama Sports Illustrated cover is the best, and a Top 25 list. The matchup: Bart Starr vs. Joe Namath, with an assist from Ann Margaret

This might be the most interesting first-round matchup of the entire Alabama SI Cover Tournament.

On one side, one of the nicest men to ever play in the NFL, and the MVP of Super Bowl I and II, Bart Starr. The cover story is about his taking over as coach of the Green Bay Packers. 

On the other is Joe Namath and actress Ann Margaret while shooting the movie, "The Last Rebel." Needless to say, the MVP of Super Bowl III didn't win an Oscar. 

BamaCentral is holding a 48-field single-elimination tournament to determine the best Alabama Sports Illustrated cover.

Vote on Twitter (@BamaCentral) or Facebook (@AlabamaonSI). The voting goes 24 hours for each matchup and the result added to the original post on BamaCentral.

First round

Joe Namath Regional

Game 6: Dreams of Glory in Green Bay (Bart Starr) vs. Back to Work, Joe Namath!

Dreams of Glory in Green Bay: Bart Starr

Story headline: A Fresh Start with Bart 

Subhead: Optimism permeates the summer air of Green Bay. Fans are sporting buttons and bumper stickers celebrating the return of Bart Starr, Mr. Nice Guy, and hoping for a renaissance of Lombardi's winning ways

Excerpt (by Edwin Shrake): After spending 16 years as a player of heroic stature in Green Bay, Starr has returned to the Packers as general manager and head coach, the announcement being made fittingly enough last Christmas Eve. Probably no first-time head coach has ever put more on the line. "Bart has everything to win, but he also has an awful lot to lose," says Gary Knafelc, a former Packer end who roomed with Starr for five years and is now in the office-supply business in Green Bay. "I'm surprised he accepted the job. Bart has such a wonderful reputation here that people will expect incredible things of him immediately, and people hate to be disappointed."

No one is more aware of this than Starr himself. He did not want his picture to appear on the cover of Sports Ilustrated this week, not because he is afraid misfortune would follow (twice before when Starr was on the cover as a player, the Packers won it all), but because his role as a savior of the Packers is a difficult one and so far he has coached only two exhibition games. It took Moses 40 years to straighten out his mess, but Starr has only a three-year contract.

Back to Work, Joe Namath!

Story headline: A Game That Gets a Good Man Down 

Subhead: None. It was a photo spread with 11 shots of Namath of moments he'd probably love to forget

Excerpt (by SI Staff): These are the shoes of Joe Namath, which are nice to be in if you are making Westerns in Rome with groovy little chicks (see cover), but not so nice if you are playing football against large, ill-tempered men, like the ones butting into the scenes on the following pages. These painful moments are from what one quarterback has called "the secondary nightmare"; the primary nightmare is interceptions. In each of these cases Namath has been racked up after throwing a pass—at right by the Chargers' Pete Barnes. There is little a quarterback can do at times like these except roll with the tackle; note his assailant's number so the blocking can be adjusted; brood about getting into a more soothing profession or, best yet, about hitting the owner up for more bread.

Result

Back to Work, Joe Namath! def. Dreams of Glory in Green Bay (Bart Starr) 74.4-25.6 percent