Jim Namas, who fulfilled Joe Namath’s prediction that the New York Jets would become the leading scorers in Super Bowl III in 1969 with three field goals and an extra run, died Saturday at his home in Albada, Colorado. Mr Turner. Suburb of Denver. he was 82 years old.
The Jets and the Denver Broncos, the two teams Turner played for, announced his death.
Turner played professional football for 16 years with the Jets from 1964-1970 and the Broncos from 1971-1979. He kicked 34 field goals and scored 145 points in the 1968-69 season, a record that remained until 1983 when the new league was formed. York Giants kicker Ali Haji Sheikh beat the first, and Washington Redskins kicker Mark Moseley beat the second.
His success was made possible in part by his endurance. In his career, he never missed 228 regular-season games and eight playoff games.
The most memorable game of Turner’s career was on the afternoon of January 12, 1969, between the Jets and the Baltimore Colts.
The Colts were in the old and established National Football League, while the Jets were in its emerging competitor, the American Football League. The first Super Bowl was held in 1967, pitting the best teams from each league against each other.
Led by quarterback Johnny Unitas and coach Don Shura, the Colts They defeated the two-time Super Bowl champions, the Green Bay Packers, to qualify for the 1969 championship.
Unitas and Shura embodied the stoic masculinity many fans associate with football, while Jets quarterback Namath, nicknamed Broadway Joe, was a loud and boisterous figure. And none of his public comments outweighed the Jets’ beliefs. Become the first AFL team to win the Super Bowl by defeating the Colts.
Namas made 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards and won the Most Valuable Player award, but it was Off-Off-Broadway virtuoso Turner who made the difference. rice field. He gave the Jets a margin of victory and single-handedly scored more than the Colts.
Turner had the biggest impact in the third quarter. The Jets, who won 7-0, controlled the ball for all but three minutes. Turner kicked two field goals of about 30 yards each to make the score 13-0.
In the fourth quarter, the Colts defense stopped the Jets offense near the 2-yard line. At the time, the goalposts were on the goal line, not behind the end zone, so the kick was a 9-yard chip shot.
“It’s one of the hardest kicks I’ve ever attempted,” Turner said. Said 2013 Utah Herald Journal News.
He did it, setting the record for the shortest field goal in Super Bowl history (recorded by Mike Clark of the Dallas Cowboys in 1971).
He missed two other field goals during the game, but it didn’t matter. The Colts scored just one point on a 1-yard rush by running back Jerry Hill, hampered by an injury to Unitas and a solid Jets defense.
Namath’s guess was right and the Jets won 16-7.
James Bayard Turner was born on March 28, 1941 in Crockett, a small town outside of San Francisco. His parents were Bethel Turner and Bayard Turner. He played football at Utah State University and began his career with the Jets in 1964.
That same year, he met Mary Kay Retger at Crockett’s pool. He proposed to her 10 days later, just before the Jets held training camp. They got married in 1965.
She survives him along with her daughters Lisa, Chris and Allison. his brothers, Paul, Eddie and Jack. his sister Pat. and eight grandchildren.
Turner was traded to the Broncos in 1971 amid contract disputes with the Jets. He eventually settled in the Denver area, where he hosted a sports radio talk show later in life.
His most notable appearances in national media came in 1969. cover Sports illustrations are depicted as representing the emerging influence of dedicated placekickers in football. He credited Namas with a prominent role in the team’s overall strategy, especially with the Jets.
“A lot of people criticize going for a field goal when you’re stuck in the 35-point range,” he said. “But we have the luxury of good defense, so we can afford it. After all that effort, it looks a lot better.”
