I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow … ‘Cause I Get Better Looking Everyday, by Joe Willie Namath (with Dick Schaap)

NORTHEAST. 
Autobiography, Pro Football. 

There was no way we could pass up this volume when we came across it in a non-descript stack at a backwater flea market; though we knew it had to be a brash breezy read, and no literary classic. And generally-speaking, reviews support the hunch. But as one reviewer put it: “it accomplished what it set out to do,” which was not to expand the literary canon. A self-marketing event as is celebrity-typical, then and now, its primary goal was to pump up the glow around one of the great quarterbacks of the era (mid-late ‘60s / early ‘70s). Though “Broadway” Joe Namath’s prime came and went before the recollections of Regionals staff (which is saying something), his was a star that continues to burn brighter in the American sports culture imagination than his career contributions would indicate. And this takes nothing away. As mentioned, Namath was a great talent. He also knew it, if being forgiven for the fact. Charming, fun-loving, Joe Willie Namath lived a celebrity season as the hottest thing going. But the reality of football saw him suffer many devastating knee injuries that cut down on his prime years. None of that takes away from his being great, if inside a short-lived career; and more over as one of a few pivotal players that helped usher in the more wide-open high-flying football we all know today. Namath was a perfect fit for the upstart rival American Football League that burst onto pro football’s scene across the 1960s and took it directly to the established NFL. The AFL pushed a more offensively minded, pass-reliant attack that swept everything in its path, forcing the game to evolve. And Broadway Joe, a rock star before that term was in common use, was at the center of it all. But of course, it was Namath’s “crazy” claim prior to Super Bowl III that he “guaranteed” his New York Jets would beat the old-school big boy Baltimore Colts, and then going on to do so (with the help of a big boy Jet defense), that cemented the legend. This book arrived on the heels of that landmark upset. It comes off as a conquering hero reflecting on a long eventful life; this, though he was still only in his 20s! From the inside cover, in his own words: “This book is partly my autobiography, but it’s more than that. It’s the way I live—my life style …” The book was co-written with legendary sports writer, Dick Schapp. [Condition: Used Very Good. Though the dust jacket shows the usual amount of small tears, dulling, chips, and some shelf wear for a book at 50+ years old, it did its job. The hardcover itself displays only slight edge wear at the spines, while there are only a few stains on the appropriately green page edges (green and white, the colors of the New York Jets). The interior pages are in pristine shape, only some slight discoloring near page tops at the end of the book in line with the mentioned stains.] 

* Joe Namath football card for visual reference only, not for sale with book. 

Condition: Used Very Good. 
Personalities / Bios. 
Joe Willie Namath (with Dick Schaap). 
Random House, 1969. 
Hardcover, 277 pgs, 5.75 x 8.5” / 1.25 lb