I must disagree. Since that time--late '60s, early '70s--a number of men have been more widely regarded as "cool": Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, and Tom Selleck among them. Joe Montana, even, would at least rank as Namath's equal. Namath was regarded as "cool" to some extent, but not by a "huge," overwhelming number, and it was more of a New York thing.
I was born in 1953, so I remember the era quite well.
“....it was more of a New York thing.”
Definitely, “Broadway” Joe Namath. I was born in ‘58, btw and didn’t know much about football (beyond that my dad loved it and my mother hated it) but I sure as heck knew who Namath was. Joe will ALWAYS be a star in NYC.