Joe Namath Talks Topps and His Rookie Card on David Letterman
Legendary quarterback Joe Namath made a trip to Broadway for the Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday to help promote Topps' Super Bowl Legends program. And while the New York-based card company was able to get their product plug in, it was Namath's lively talk of his playing days and the story behind his rookie card that dominated the roughly ten-minute interview, shown below in its entirety:
Throughout the chat, Namath came off as confident, never downplaying the accolades the talk show host was feeding him. Always charismatic, Namath squeezed a lot of anecdotes into the short sit-down. Namath described his "Broadway" nickname, playing in New York and an early "Sports Illustrated" photo shoot.
At the eight-minute mark Letterman pulled out a copy of Namath's 1965 Topps rookie card. From there, the Jets great went on to explain how the photo on the card was taken at a hospital. Having just had his first knee operation, the team's media manager brought a Jets jersey, pads and football to Namath, who put them on, leaned up against a wall and the rest is cardboard history.
When the conversation switched to the new Super Bowl Legends program, Namath seemed to lose a little of his confidence. Clearly he knew more about the game than the interactive trading card program he was brought on to promote. Still, the spot put a major spotlight on the hobby and brought it to a massive audience.
The spot ended with Namath presenting Letterman with his very own custom 2011 Topps Football card. It shows the late night host going back for a pass, decked out in a shirt and tie. The placeholder for the team logo has been replaced by a Late Show logo. Afterward, there was a short bit with Namath going outside to pass a football to actor Alec Baldwin, who had been on the show earlier in the evening.
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Tim Simms
reminds me of the hank aaron interview early this year about topps baseball giveaway