TOP 10
Legends who lost it
Sports greats whose brain cramps and blown fuses made headlines
by Tony Care, Chris Harris & Dan Tavares
July 14, 2006
 NFL Hall-of-Fame quarterback Joe Namath keeps his lips to himself on the sidelines before the 2006 Superbowl between Seattle and Pittsburgh. (Getty Images/Brian Bahr) |
Broadway Joe's worst pass ever
Former NFL quarterback Joe Namath made a plethora of completions during his Hall of Fame career, but there is one pass he would surely love to have back.
ESPN reporter Suzy Kolber was interviewing Namath on Dec. 20, 2003 in the second quarter of the game between the New York Jets and New England Patriots when a strange turn of events ensued.
After slurring his words during the first question, Namath, who later admitted to drinking before the game, leaned toward Kolber and said, "I want to kiss you."
A startled Kolber tried to defuse the situation by continuing with her questions, but the ever-persistent former Jets star repeated his smoochy desire.
Kolber responded to Namath's comments by saying "Thanks, Joe [that’s a] huge compliment," and ended the interview.
Perhaps realizing the magnitude of his indiscretion in front of a TV
audience, Namath profusely apologized to Kolber days later, which the
ESPN reporter accepted.
"If we had known definitively [Namath] was in that kind of state,
we wouldn't have conducted the interview," explained ESPN executive
Jed Drake, who was in the production truck at the time, to reporters.
Namath, whose playboy image with the Jets made him popular with the
ladies throughout the 1960s and 1970s, admitted to having a drinking
problem following the inappropriate request. He underwent counselling
for alcohol abuse a month later and maintains that he now lives a life
of sobriety.