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t walgamuth · #6 02-07-2013, 11:22 AM

Right after he signed the biggest sports contract ever up til then, he went to work at the Jets. There was a lot of jealousy from other players who were making 1/10 to 1/20 what he was, including the linemen charged with protecting him.

Before the first game Joe made this little speech to the team (more or less)...."I know many of you don't like me much and really I don't like you all that much either. I do ask this though, judge me by my play not by my salary or my press clippings. If anybody has a problem with that, I am ready to step outside with you and settle it in the parking lot". he grew up in a mill town in Pennsylvania and was fearless after scrapping and getting whupped by his older brothers whenever he got out of line.

Nobody took him up on it. His earthy willingness to scrap with bigger men went a long way to winning them over. After all the dust settled they worked hard to protect him and eventually were a very successful team.

It also was the early sixties and there were hard core southern white "boys" on the team and some pretty talented blacks. There was racial strife, but Joe was completely color blind as his best friend as a child was black, so eventually a lot of that settled down too.

He caught a lot of grief for his long hair and white shoes (first ever for that). He exuded confidence but backed it up with nearly supernatural skills physically and mentally. He was among the first who really read defenses and picked them apart. He called nearly all his own plays both in college and as a pro.

he was cut from a lot of the same cloth as Muhammad Ali. I loved them both for their willingness to go against the existing norms, while backing it all up with skill intelligence and courage.