http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04026/265715.stm
Namath's need for help hurts Monday, January 26, 2004 By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette I got up early yesterday, way before my usual noon time, to catch Joe Namath on ESPN's "Outside The Lines." I wish I had stayed in bed. It's time for a shameful confession: I'm 47 years old, and I feel let down. Is that pathetic or what? Of course, it's pathetic, but I can't help it. It's bad enough that Namath made a fool of himself on national television a few weeks ago. Now, we have to see him on ESPN telling the world he needs help for an alcohol problem? Sorry, but that hurts. I'm guessing that's the reaction a lot of people who grew up in Beaver Falls in the 1960s and '70s. We loved calling that little town in Beaver County home, but it's not as if we had a lot to brag about. There was the Babcock & Wilcox steel plant, where most of our fathers worked. There was the Corner Tavern, where everyone still drinks cheap beer and eats the best pasta in the valley. And there was the Blue Room pool hall on Seventh Avenue, where everyone hung out. But we also had Joe Namath. No one else could make that claim, thank you. He wasn't just one of us. He became the king of the sports world. He was so big that we didn't think he was trying to be the least bit funny when he asked Muhammad Ali on national television, "So, Muhammad, how does it feel to be with a real star?" We thought it was a legitimate question. It all started with Namath's marvelous football ability. He's right; he was a real star. He was a star at Beaver Falls High School for Larry Bruno, a legendary coach in our little corner of the world. He was a star at Alabama for Bear Bryant, a legendary figure in any corner of the football world and a man who once called him "the greatest athlete I ever coached." And, after signing a $427,000 contract, which seemed like a zillion dollars to us in 1965, he was a star for the New York Jets, so bright that, with his amazing performance against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, he almost single-handedly forced the AFL-NFL merger and made Super Bowl Sunday a national holiday that virtually all of America will celebrate again this week. Broadway Joe. Man, he was so cool. Every teenage boy in Beaver Falls rushed out to buy his book, "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow, 'Cause I Get Better-Looking Every Day." We dreamed of being in his shoes for just one night after he said, "I like my Johnnie Walker Red and my women blonde." We all wanted to party with him at his East Side saloon in Manhattan, Bachelors III. We would have grown a Fu Manchu and worn a full-length fur coat if our parents had allowed us. Heck, we even considered trying panty hose after he had the nerve to put a pair on. Joe Willie was bigger than life. That probably explains why his fall is so painful to so many of us. It started a month ago when Namath, drunk and slurring his words, twice told ESPN's NFL sideline reporter Suzy Kolber that he wanted to kiss her during a national television interview. He later apologized to Kolber, which would have been enough. He had built up so many goodwill points over the years that this unfortunate incident would have gone away quickly. But there Namath was yesterday, back on ESPN, telling everyone that he sought counseling for alcoholism. "I can't handle it ... I'm convinced that I needed help." Who knows? Maybe it's true. Maybe Namath, 60 now, turned to alcohol as an escape after his marriage broke up 2 1/2 years ago. If that's the case, heaven help him with his recovery. But it's so easy to be cynical these days. A lot of celebrities get in a jackpot and immediately blame alcohol or drugs. That's the easy way out. It's the best and fastest way to get the sympathy vote. We're big on forgiveness in the country, big on second, third and fourth chances. Maybe that's what Namath was after yesterday. If it is, heaven help those of us who believed so much in him. Either way, I'll never look at Namath the same way again. I know that's more my problem than his. He never asked to be my role model or anyone else's. No athlete should have to carry that burden. Charles Barkley had that right a few years back. It's not fair to people who are just as fallible as the rest of us, if not more so. I've been preaching for years that the only role models any kid should have should be across his or her dinner table. At 47, I believe that more than ever. ______________________________________________________ RollTideFan - The University of Alabama Athletics Discussion List "Welcome to RollTideFan! Wear a cup!" To join or leave the list or to make changes to your subscription visit http://listinfo.rolltidefan.net
