Bachelors II

For a man whose acting experience was limited to one role in a still unfinished Hollywood movie, Joe Willie Namath put on a surprisingly good show. For more than a month, the flamboyant quarterback of the champion New York Jets had most of his fans--and himself to boot--convinced that he was going to quit football. Professional Football Commissioner Pete Rozelle had ordered him to give up his part-ownership of the Manhattan gin mill Bachelors III, and to quit hanging around with the hoods and gamblers who populated the joint. Namath pleaded that he was being made a victim of guilt by association. In a tear-stained press conference last month, he said: "The last thing I want to do is quit. But it's a matter of principle." With that, he announced his retirement from the game that has made him rich.

Cardinal Rule. If he thought he was putting pressure on Rozelle, he should have known better. A cardinal rule of professional football, spelled out plainly in Rule 3 of every player's contract, states that a player "must not associate with gamblers or other notorious characters." And because of his questionable associations, Namath was clearly guilty of breaking the rule. Rozelle understood only too well what such transgressions can mean to the name of the game. Sooner or later, rumors would start circulating that gamblers were getting too close to the shaggy-haired superstar who led his team to a stunning 16-7 upset over the formidable Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl last January. Rightly or wrongly, word would quickly be passed around that games were being fixed.

Rozelle was adamant, and Namath finally got the message. Last week, following a round of secret conferences in Manhattan spaced over five days, the commissioner said: "I'm happy to announce that Joe will be back with the Jets. He is selling his interest in Bachelors III, and we consider the matter entirely closed." Resplendent in yellow and tan sports shirt atop pinstriped, black bell-bottom trousers, Namath said: "We all got a little tired of the situation. I still insist I haven't done anything wrong, but there is still that area of doubt, that question with the public which we are trying to erase now." Added Namath: "I want to play football."

With that, Namath flew off to Los Angeles, where the finishing touches are being put on the movie Norwood, which features Joe as an ex-Marine living in Manhattan. He promised to report to the Jets' Long Island training camp by week's end. Would he also quit playing the midnight cowboy around his old watering place, which is now known to wags as Bachelors II? "I think now," said Commissioner Rozelle wryly, "that Joe has a better understanding of guilt by association."

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