15 best college football players we wish played in the Twitter era

15. Best college football players before Twitter: Joe Namath, QB, Alabama

The Original.

As a pro, he wore fur coats on the sideline. Quarterbacking the New York Jets, where the degree of difficulty is higher than in college, Namath made a name for himself by winning Super Bowl III after saying “We’re going to win Sunday. I guarantee it.”

The dude was known for his swagger. He had the juice. Do not look at his Pro Football Reference page. It doesn’t matter. As a matter of fact, don’t look at his college stats out of context either. He was the man. Do you honestly think he would have turned down any of that personality in college? Joe Namath was the greatest athlete Bear Bryant ever coached.

Was that an exaggeration? Probably. But Joe Namath was a stud at Alabama, and who wouldn’t want to talk about the outspoken rare athlete leading the premier program in the country?

He surely had to have more than his fair share of highlights. Check out these clips from an era before anyone seemed concerned with efficiency.

Namath has a Derek Jeter jump throw in there, which is probably more aptly named the Joe Namath jump throw, since, you know, Jeter came decades later. He is also incredibly quick. Namath somehow weaved through defensive traffic like Frogger.

His first year as a starter in 1962, Namath was 14th in the country in passing yards with a laughable-in-hind-sight 1,192 yards. He was 15th in total yards and sixth in touchdowns accounted for.

His numbers took a dip in 1963 and 1964, but he led the Crimson Tide to the 1964 national championship and completed 64 percent of his passes. That was not an easy task in that era.

Once he graduated he was drafted in the first round by both the AFL and the NFL. High Twitter drama!