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OT: RU's Sonny Werblin Hired Joe Namath To the Jets

RutgersRaRa

RutgersRaRa

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I just found this out, and it's a pretty cool part of RU history. Surprised Source hasn't reported this. :-)


Sonny Werblin
David Abraham "Sonny" Werblin was a prominent entertainment industry executive and sports impresario who was an owner of the New York Jets, Chairman of Madison Square Gardens, and who built and managed the Meadowlands Sports Complex.Erasmus Hall High School
 
Seriously, this is not news to any oldtimers. Werblin was well known as a Rutgers supporter and Alumn, and we have the Werblin swimming center on campus.
 
Originally posted by Scarlet dollar:
Seriously, this is not news to any oldtimers. Werblin was well known as a Rutgers supporter and Alumn, and we have the Werblin swimming center on campus.
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Yes - an excellent facility - that should once again be home to a Men's Swimming & Diving Team - Consider the argument that "if they just got the NJ kids, they would be great" - it is a powerful one in swimming. Plus swimmers usually help to elevate the athletic program's GPA.
 
My daughters have swum at the Werblin facility frequently. Great swim facility. NJ Junior Olympics is there this weekend. It is a shame we no longer have a men's program.
 
Hello! Ra, just a nite..uou eill rarely outsource Source. Google Sonny Werblin as well as checking the Jets on Wekepedia and you will have all you may need or want to know. Sonny is in the Rutgers Football Hall of Fame for his overall contributions to Rutgers football and the Rutgers Hall of Distinguished Alumni. A great entertainment entrepreneur and promoter, Sonny was a chief executive at MCA Music Corporation of America.

Leon Hess, Townsend Martin, Donald Lillis and Philip Iselin were the original partners with Werblin in the Jets. I believe Martin's son also attended Rutgers as fid two of Sonny's three boys Robert and Thomas. Tom earned his degree from Rutgers and often attends Rutgers football games in addition to support in the University.
 
Well, Namath wasn't "hired to the Jets". They drafted him with the first pick of the 1965 draft.
 
Originally posted by RCTrooper:
Well, Namath wasn't "hired to the Jets". They drafted him with the first pick of the 1965 draft.
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Yes - drafted him in the AFL draft - and then - an example of Sonny Werblin talent & skill - he out-bid / out negotiated / out sold - the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals who had drafted Namath in the NFL draft. Werblin knew that the AFL had to fight to survive - and had to capture attention to sell themselves - a truly brilliant businessman!
 
Sonny was also involved-at least tangentially-in the Quiz Show scandals of the 1950's.

Sonny was the agent for Dan Enright,the producer of Twenty One,a game show that was to integrity what Kentucky basketball is to the pursuit of higher education.

Enright came to Sonny to ask him whether he should tell NBC or Geritol-the show's sponsor -that the show wasn't quite on the level.

SONNY: Dan,has NBC ever asked you if Twenty One is fixed?
ENRIGHT: No.
SONNY:Well then,has Geritol ever asked you that question?
ENRIGHT:No..
SONNY:Have I ever asked you?
ENRIGHT:No.


SONNY :Well the reason that none of us has asked you is that nobody wants to know.

This post was edited on 3/2 10:22 AM by RUhasarrived
 
Werblin was also a friend of Bear Bryant and the one who convinced him to bring the #1 Crimson Tide north to play RU at the Meadowlands in 1980.
 
Originally posted by SouthFLRUfan:
You must be pretty young...
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Thank you, thank you very much (cue Elvis).

Not especially young (but also not as immature as, say, Mr. Screw), it's one of those bits of Jets-related information that didn't come looking for me.
 
Originally posted by RCTrooper:
Well, Namath wasn't "hired to the Jets". They drafted him with the first pick of the 1965 draft.
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Drafting and negotiating a contract is a form of hiring, it just specifies the means by which the negotiation and hiring began.
 
Bear Bryant's famed hounds-tooth hat was a gift from David "Sonny" Werblin '32.

Joe Namath began the second half of the Jets-Bills exhibition game held at Rutgers Stadium in his first NFL season.



In a May 8, 1969 Targum article headlined “Top athletes rap sports, cite thriftiness;

‘backward’ policies” talked about the frustrations of trying to change attitudes, “One of the players pointed out how a few years ago when Rutgers alumnus Sonny Werblin was president of the New York Jets, he offered to provide the Rutgers Stadium with lights. But the administration balked, saying the parking lot would have to be subsequently lighted at the cost of $30,000 to the school, and Werblin’s offer was turned aside.”
This post was edited on 3/2 11:30 AM by Source

August 31, 1965 Jets-Bills Program at Rutgers Sta.
 
I got to see Jets practices when I was a kid. Werblin was always around. I was too young to know him but people who dealt with him in daily way thought he was a great guy. Most of the Jets were good guys. Don Maynard often came out of locker with his guitar and sang country songs to the kids. The days of mufti-miilion dollar players and psycho memorabilia hounds weren't manifest yet

Werblin Namath Pic
 
As alluded to by Source, the first game in which Namath ever suited up as a Jet was played at Rutgers Stadium. It was a preseason game between the Jets and Bills. Here's the program cover.



67648a_lg.jpeg




This post was edited on 3/2 11:39 AM by PiscatawayMike
 
In Namath's book "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow....'Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day" Namath describes driving north on Rt.-1 through Edison. Weeb Ewbank is driving the car and pulls off the highway (Woodbridge Ave.?). Namath asks him what he's doing and Ewbank replies that he saw the sign that said "Fords Keep Right" and was just doing what the sign said.
 
Originally posted by HeyHuey:
In Namath's book "I Can't Wait Until Tomorrow....'Cause I Get Better Looking Every Day" Namath describes driving north on Rt.-1 through Edison. Weeb Ewbank is driving the car and pulls off the highway (Woodbridge Ave.?). Namath asks him what he's doing and Ewbank replies that he saw the sign that said "Fords Keep Right" and was just doing what the sign said.
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Now that is pretty funny. My first thought was that the sign was there for the Ford Motor Company plant that was there on Route 1, then realized it was for the town. Week just have been messing with Joe when he pulled over.
 
I am a big Namath fan, even though I am a die hard Raiders fan. Sonny gave Namath the then unheard of signing bonus of $900,000.00. That amount is laughable by today's standard. Love Namath"s game and style. Would have made a great Raider. Will never forgive him for beating my Raiders in 1968 however.

This post was edited on 3/2 2:23 PM by RUnumber1
 
Originally posted by PiscatawayMike:
As alluded to by Source, the first game in which Namath ever suited up as a Jet was played at Rutgers Stadium. It was a preseason game between the Jets and Bills. Here's the program cover.



ec


Mike,

I have this program as I was at the game. I also got it signed by Joe at the Joe Namath Football camp when my son attended 7 years ago. Joe was amazed I had the program and offered me $500 and an autographed picture for it. for it. when I refused his offer, he signed it for me anyway, for FREE. He's a really nice guy.


This post was edited on 3/2 11:39 AM by PiscatawayMike
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werbin was the key individual pushing RU to go "big time" in football
 
Originally posted by RutgersRaRa:

Originally posted by RCTrooper:
Well, Namath wasn't "hired to the Jets". They drafted him with the first pick of the 1965 draft.
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Drafting and negotiating a contract is a form of hiring, it just specifies the means by which the negotiation and hiring began.
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Don't forget the Jets didn't have exclusive rights to Namath , just because they took him in the AFL draft.
He might have signed on with the NFL team that drafted him and instead of becoming: Broadway Joe,
he could have been given the nickname of Gateway Joe
eek.r191677.gif
 
Sonny gave Namath the then unheard of signing bonus of $900,000.00.

The signing bonus was for $200,000.00. The whole contract with the signing bonus came to $427,000.00 for four years. But your point is taken...seems ridiculous by today's standards.
 
So perhaps that's why the Jets used to play preseason games at RU. I never made the connection. The first football game I ever went to at RU Stadium was a Jets-Pats preseason game that my dad took me to in the mid-60's. (He spent more time with me in the concession lines than watching the game ... took him 4 years to take me to another game! No chicken fingers either! Unbelievable!)
This post was edited on 3/3 9:26 AM by BuckRU
 
Originally posted by SouthFLRUfan:
Sonny gave Namath the then unheard of signing bonus of $900,000.00.

The signing bonus was for $200,000.00. The whole contract with the signing bonus came to $427,000.00 for four years. But your point is taken...seems ridiculous by today's standards.
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He also got a green Lincoln Continental and the immediate resentment of every player in camp. He won them over eventually.
 
In these parts, it's the same as saying 15 minutes can save you 15 percent on car insurance. EVERYBODY knows that.

Mr. Werblin stayed in touch with the swim program almost up to the end. A couple of good friends of mine met him back in the pre-Werblin Center days, when swimming was in basically a backyard pool wedged into the Barn.

He was something ... Jets, Meadowlands, support for Rutgers ... and quite the impresario.

Too bad we needed like 30 more of him ...
 
Originally posted by VirtualKnight:

Originally posted by PiscatawayMike:
As alluded to by Source, the first game in which Namath ever suited up as a Jet was played at Rutgers Stadium. It was a preseason game between the Jets and Bills. Here's the program cover.



ec


Mike,

I have this program as I was at the game. I also got it signed by Joe at the Joe Namath Football camp when my son attended 7 years ago. Joe was amazed I had the program and offered me $500 and an autographed picture for it. for it. when I refused his offer, he signed it for me anyway, for FREE. He's a really nice guy.


This post was edited on 3/2 11:39 AM by PiscatawayMike
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VK, I wasn't at the 1965 game (I wasn't quite 1-year old yet...lol) but I have the program as well. I bought it on ebay several years ago. I'm a huge Rutgers and Jets fan (season ticket holder since 1987), so it'll never leave my collection.

Back in 2004, as a subscriber of the Jets insider newspaper, Jets Confidential, I won a contest to meet Namath and get his autograph. I had him sign an official Mitchell & Ness uniform top, identical to the one he wore during the 1968 season. I had it framed and it looks great. He was very cordial and was more than happy to answer any question I asked him. Here's a photo of our meeting...

a55d2607-616e-43d5-8e21-0bf94f0ef53b.jpg






This post was edited on 3/4 11:23 AM by PiscatawayMike
 
Ummm Not Really


Money values changed around 1967-68. If money doubles every 10 years...the $457K...would be worth around $16M not including the difference in the 2015 dollar versus the 1967-68 standard.

I'll leave this to some finance major who can give us an actual values of this offer.

MO
PS I transferred to RU New Brunswick in 1966. Friends told me that Werbiln had landed a helicopter on the New Brunswick Campus in 1964-65 with Namath aboard during the "recruitment" process.
 
Re: Ummm Not Really

My favorite Namath story was that when he first arrived at the Jets. The Jets receivers could not catch his passes. When asked why, they said that Namath threw the ball too hard. The Jets coach responded by saying that the Jets will just have to sign his receivers from Alabama.
 
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