Countdown to Super Bowl: How the 1968-1969 New York Jets Delivered on Joe Namath's Guarantee to Win it All

by Dave Anderson

Countdown to Super Bowl tells the whole story of the game of the century, written by the man who followed every movement of the Jets from the first kick-off of the season, who lived, breathed, and agonized with them for the ten nerve-tingling days before the Colts went down to defeat in the Super Bowl. Here, by Dave Anderson of the New York Times, is the play-by-play, moment-by-moment saga of how Super Joe Namath and the Jets made good Namath’s boast that they would humble the NFL and vanquish the invincible Colts. This book provides all the color, the action, and the behind-the-scenes drama of the greatest upset in football history. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of that miraculous New York Jets Super Bowl win, fans can relive the stories and moments that led up to that victory.“My experience working with Skyhorse is always a positive collaboration. The editors are first-rate professionals, and my books receive top-shelf treatment. I truly appreciate our working relationship and hope it continues for years to come.” –David Fischer, author

Genres: Sports, Football

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Marek Sherman]

Countdown to Super Bowl by Dave Anderson allows you as the reader to travel back in time and relieve one of the greatest sports upsets to this day. The Book is about The 1968 jets and how their team worked their way to a super bow championship. The boom takes you to the inside of the locker room to see what was truly happening behind the cameras. The everyday issues and events faced by the players. It also gives you details on the game itself and what happened on the field. I would recommend this boom to Jets fans who weren't alive to witness their favorites team's greatest moment, the guarantee. The book will help them live it almost like they were there with the players.

While reading the book you will notice many details about the players and their personal lives. Giving you a view on what was happening and how it could have affected their play. Right in the beginning of chapter on it drops you right into a scene about Joe Namath buying his mother a piece of jewelry and how he thought it could be an omen because the number if diamonds on it were the same as his number(12) and the date(12th) when the big game would take place. The book also lets you know about of the events leading up to the game that affected player mentality. Some players such as Johnny sample were friends with players on the Colts, but due to the seriousness of the game they were forced to forget about their past and treat each other as opponents. You also learn about the on field events that took place and how they made the players feel. Such as when the colts put Johnny Unitas who was Joe Namath's idol in the game. He too had to treat Unitas as an opponents instead if an idol.

I thought this book was very interesting to read. Offering an inside view on a game that occurred over 50 years ago. The book contained lots of details on what was going on off the field, but nit a lot about the game and why certain decisions were made. While reading the book I noticed the lack of detail about the game itself. It included lots of details about what the players were going through but not the game itself and not the details about the game. You don't really learn about any big plays or anything. I liked how the book can be useful for Jets fans under the age of 50 because it allows them to get a view of the Jets as a winning team. Many Jets fans including me haven't really experienced a true winning culture for a while. Besides the 2010 and 2015 seasons. And this book lets them see what it would've been like to see the Jets as world champions.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Traveling in time to SB III when they were not yet officially called Super Bowls. The AFL was the other league until this game, because it changed the perception of so many football fans. The Best AFL teams were on a par with the NFL in talent level in 1968 and they were displaying superior passing attacks. After the game some Colts players admitted that they had never faced a better combination of passer and receivers like the Jets had to offer in the NFL. Namath to Maynard and Sauer backed by a ground attack gave the Jets control of the game; the Colts, an incredible 18 points favourite were never ahead during the contest. The Jets execution was superior especially because of Namath’s performance, while both Colts QBs had a mediocre game, missing open receivers and throwing interceptions. Morrall had been a journeyman and Unitas was at the end of his career with diminished strength in his passing arm.

The following year, in SB IV the Kansas City Chiefs demolished the Minnesota Vikings with creative game planning focused on attacking the whole field and a punishing defense which shut down the Vikings offense. The AFL had proven that it was on par with the NFL, the merger had succeeded. The modern NFL was born in January 1969 when the man who had guaranteed a win for his team succeeded against terrific odds, had proven that most of the experts were not that knowledgeable. Or as the saying goes, « on any given Sunday ».

[Tim Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so much fun for me to read - brain candy at it's finest!!! Originally published in 1969, sportswriter Dave Anderson is imbedded with the New York Jets football team for the 2 weeks leading up to the 1969 Super Bowl. I read several of Mr. Anderson's sport books as a kid in the 1970s but was unaware of this book. It was republished in 2019 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of arguably the most important Super Bowl to date. Also the book was published in Kindle which is where I found it. Enjoyed the book immensely.

[David Bowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jets won the Super Bowl

I enjoy reading about the old AFL. The Jets won Super Bowl 3!They were the first AFL team to do so. Dave Anderson has long been one of my favorite writers. In this wonderful book Anderson has brought the old Jets back to Life. I hope Robert Saleh can do the same now in 2023.

[Jeff Hookey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fun quick read that shed more light on the week prior to the Jets Colts matchup

[Ted Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. Thought there would be more about the actual guarantee than there was