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BRISTOL, Conn. - Joe Namath is undergoing counseling for alcohol abuse
a month after a television interview in which he slurred his words and
twice told a sideline reporter he wanted to kiss her.
"Well, I've enrolled, or I've gone into a center, and I'm getting
personal help there," the Hall of Fame quarterback told ESPN in an
interview to be aired Sunday. "Yeah, these people are experts and we need
to talk."
In an interview during a New England Patriots-New York Jets game in
December, Namath appeared intoxicated when he twice told ESPN reporter
Suzy Kolber he wanted to kiss her. Namath subsequently apologized to
Kolber.
Namath said he had been drinking for several hours prior to
kickoff.
"We had been going since 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and I did the wrong
thing," he said. "I'm very disappointed with my behavior, because of how
I've embarrassed my family, and the people that I work with and my friends
and all.
"But, hey, worse things have happened. And, thank God I'm healthy, and
we'll move on, and we'll make it better."
Namath added that "every time that something in my life has gone askew,
alcohol has been involved."
Namath said he has not seen a tape of the interview with Kolber and
doesn't intend to.
"That was the wake-up call," Namath said. "Even before that, I said,
'Yeah, I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop.' "
But he would always resume drinking, Namath explained, hopeful that
this time he can become alcohol free.
"It's just something I cannot handle, and it's history," Namath
said. | 