SI Cover Tournament: Joe Namath and his Jittery Jets vs. 'Bama Is Back (Brodie Croyle)

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What better way to open the Bear Bryant Regional than with a player he once famously suspended. 

Of course, Joe Namath won a national championship with the coach as well.

For those of you wondering, this is the fourth Namath cover so far in the Alabama Sports Illustrated Cover Tournament, and yes, there are still more on the way. 

We're only halfway through the first round. 

This time, Broadway Joe is up against another former Crimson Tide quarterback, one who some say looked a little like Namath, Brodie Croyle. He was on the cover after the famous win over Florida during the Mike Shula ear. 

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

Bear Bryant Regional

Game 9: Joe Namath and his Jittery Jets vs. 'Bama Is Back (Brodie Croyle) 

Joe Namath and his Jittery Jets

Story headline: Joe Bites the Astrodust

Subhead: After two smashing wins, the Jets got ambushed in Houston and now must open at home against Miami, the only NFL team left unbeaten

Excerpt (by Tex Maule): To be fair, the Jet scoring apparatus was short of some vital cogs in Houston; when Namath has all his people together, New York is a solid contender against Miami and Baltimore in the AFC East. Against the Oilers, though, he could not make use of a hobbled Emerson Boozer, and John Riggins, the big running back from Kansas who leads the conference in rushing, was also put out for a while. So without a sound rushing threat, the fold-back, seven-man Houston zone could concentrate more on shutting off Namath's passing game.

"We've been looking at pictures of him," said Bill Peterson, the new coach of the Oilers, a couple of days before the game. He got out of his chair to demonstrate. Peterson is a short, thick-chested man who looks not at all like Namath, but his act was convincing.

"He's got this," he said, snapping his arm down and across his body quickly, looking like a chunky baseball pitcher. "Gets rid of the ball so fast you can't rush him. And follows through all the way, like any quarterback who ever played for Bear Bryant."

Eddie Bell sees Joe Willie's white shoes from another angle. As a small target, he needs an accurate gunner. "He throws a quick ball but a soft ball," Bell says. "It doesn't knock you down. The players play for him because they have so much confidence in him. Even after they beat Los Angeles and Minnesota two years ago with Al Woodall they didn't have the confidence in him that they do in Joe. It shouldn't be that way. President Kennedy was a great man. I cried when he died. But they replaced him in two minutes. That's how important most people are. Joe gives the team confidence, but the team gave Al confidence. When Joe came back last year against San Francisco to bring us within three points, it was like the coming of the Messiah."

'Bama is Back (Brodie Croyle)

Sports Illustrated

Story headline: The Tide has Turned 

Subhead: After a decade of struggles, Alabama is again rolling behind a strong-armed quarterback who wears number 12. Florida found that out the hard way

Excerpt (by Mark Beech): What makes this Alabama team so much fun to watch is that coach Mike Shula finally has an offense to go with his magnificent defense, which ranks sixth in the country after finishing second last season. The difference between this year's Tide and last year's 6-6 team has been Croyle, who missed all but the first three games of 2004 with a torn ACL in his right knee. He was completing 66.7 percent of his passes when he went down in the first series of the second half against Western Carolina, a game that Alabama was leading 31-0. "I knew right away when it happened," Croyle recalls. "With everything I'd been through at Alabama, it was like, When's it going to end?"

Without him, the offense foundered. Backup Spencer Pennington--who left the team after the season to concentrate on baseball--was an inconsistent passer, which forced Shula to rely excessively on the running game. The all-too-predictable attack finished 94th in the country in total offense.

This season Alabama leads the SEC in pass efficiency and ranks fifth in total offense (402.4 yards per game). On Saturday, Croyle connected with six receivers, at points all over the field. "Everything starts with the quarterback," says [offensive coordinator Dave] Rader, "and having Brodie allows us to do a lot of things."

Result

Bama’s Back (Brodie Croyle) d. Jittery Jets (Joe Namath) 72.5-27.5 percent