Namath is a lucky guy because Johnny Unitas was injured for Super Bowl III. But that’s the nature of football.
Johnny U. and Raymond Berry deadly combo.
Johnny Unitas was injured prior to the start of the 1968 regular season,
Of the 14. regular season games in 1968 Johnny Unitas started exactly 0 games.
Johnny Unitas did appear in 5 of the 14 regular season games completing 11 of 32 passes for 2 TDs. That is a 34.4 completion %.
It was Earl Morrall who started all 14 regular season games and led Baltimore to a great 13-1 season and won Earl Morrall the 1968 NFL MVP Award. What happen to the 1968 Baltimore Colts, who were considered one of the greatest NFL Teams of all time prior to the Super Bowl III, has been debated for many decades. Some insist that the AFL had to be legitimized before the NFL and AFL played fully integrated schedules starting in 1970. Especially after the AFL Super Bowl I and II disasters administered by the NFL Green Bay Packers. I Others suggest that the Carroll Rosenbloom, owner of the Baltimore Colts and notorious gambler, needed a big win to get out from under huge gambling debts reputedly fixed the game with other NFL biggies, His suspicious death while swimming in the surf several years later kept the fix rumors alive. One more thing about Johnny Unitas, he did get in the game and competed 11 passes matching his entire regular season number but the game was long over for most bettors who bet the point spread (as high as Jets +21). Money line bettors might have had a little scare