Namath did have an incredible arm, and he had some games for the Jets where he put up eye-popping numbers. And that was in the days when the pro game wasn’t so passing friendly (well, the AFL more so than the NFL yes). Of course he also played in the media center of NYC, so even though playing in what many considered the junior league, at least till Super Bowl III, he got the media coverage. When the Chiefs beat the Vikings the following year, the equalization was complete, and when the Colts did win the Super Bowl, beating the Cowboys in a wild one, they did it as the AFC representative.
My 1960s memory is of boring NFL games except Cleveland-Jim Brown games in the afternoon and wild AFL aerial displays featuring Len Dawson and Darryl Lamonica in the early evening.