New York Jets Superstar Tips Hat to Franchise Legend, Trailblazer

One New York Jets quarterback knows the advertising opportunities he’s received are due in part to another Jets legend.

Request's own Joe Namath addressing the crowd at the thirteenth annual Tequesta Chili Cook-Off November 09, 24 in Tequesta. / BILL INGRAM/THE PALM BEACH POST / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Part of being a quarterback in the NFL, especially a famous one, is endorsements.

Watch any NFL game and you're likely to see Patrick Mahomes as much in commercials as you might during a game — whether it’s a Chiefs game or not.

If you're a superstar, you can nail down any endorsement opportunity you want. New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers knows that well.

While the 40-year-old isn't endorsing as many products as he used to, for several years he was ubiquitous during NFL games, whether his former Green Bay Packers were playing or not.

Most specifically, Rodgers as a pitchman for State Farm Insurance, a company that Mahomes now endorses.

In many ways, Rodgers and players at his level have one player to thank for those opportunities and that's a former Jets quarterback — franchise legend Joe Namath.

Earlier this week, ESPN published a piece commemorating the 50th anniversary of one of Namath’s most iconic television commercials for Beautymist Pantyhose.

The idea of Namath donning a pair of pantyhose on television caused quite the stir and the ad campaign became of the most memorable in television history.

Rodgers was asked about Namath’s influence on his off-field career. He said that while there famous quarterbacks back then — he pointed to Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas — Namath was the first to truly be a celebrity, known as much to non-football fans as football fans.

“He was one of the first to be used in a lot of ad campaigns, so I thank Joe because he paved the way for me doing very similar things — obviously, my State Farm commercials,” Rodgers said.

Rogers had so much respect for Namath than when he joined the Jets last season he declined to wear Namath’s No. 12, which he wore in Green Bay, and changed to No. 8.

Nicknamed “Broadway Joe,” Namath made waves the second he hit Pro Football after wrapping up his college career at Alabama.

He spurned the NFL to sign with the AFL’s Jets for what was, at the time, the richest contract in Pro Football history, a three-year, $427,000 contract.

With that deal, Namath took New York by storm and helped lead the Jets to pro football's most iconic upset, as the Jets beat the Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III in 1969. Namath guaranteed victory before the game and, coupled with the upset, sent the Super Bowl to a different level in pro sports lore.

During his playing days, Namath was famous for several commercials. But the Beautymist commercial seems to have stood the test of time, not just in his mind but in the mind of those that keep up with advertising history. He even remembers the iconic catch line 50 years later:

“Now, I don't wear pantyhose ... But if Beautymist can make my legs look good, imagine what they'll do for yours.