1965 Topps Joe Namath #122 RC

The biggest cards for the other league

From 1964 through 1967, football cards were split down the middle. The Philadelphia Gum company held the National Football League's rights, so Unitas, Starr and Jim Brown appeared only in its packs. Topps made cards of the upstart American Football League, whose players were far less famous. In 1964 Topps used the standard 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch size. For 1965 it stretched the card to 4 11/16 inches tall.

PSA's history of the set describes the move as a deliberate answer to the gap in star power: if Topps did not have football's biggest names, it could at least make football's biggest cards. The extra height went almost entirely to the photograph. Each team got its own bright background color, the city name ran across the top and the player's name and position sat in a banner at the bottom. The backs were split in two, with player information and a short biography on the left and a cartoon about a career highlight on the right.

The cards sold in five-cent wax packs and in cello packs, each with a slab of gum and a fragile 'Magic Rub-Off' insert. The set runs 176 cards, sorted by team in alphabetical order of city and then by player, with checklists at #87 and #176. It was the only year Topps used the tall format for football, though the same dimensions returned for its 1969 and 1970 basketball sets.

Broadway Joe

Joseph William Namath was born May 31, 1943, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, the son of a steelworker of Hungarian descent. He starred at quarterback, dunked as a basketball guard and played the outfield in high school, and several major league clubs made him offers. He chose Alabama and Paul 'Bear' Bryant, who later called recruiting him 'the best coaching decision I ever made.' Alabama went 29-4 with Namath at quarterback and won the 1964 national championship.

On November 28, 1964, the rival leagues held their drafts on the same day. The NFL's St. Louis Cardinals took Namath 12th overall; the Jets made him the first pick of the AFL draft. The day after the Orange Bowl he signed with the Jets and owner Sonny Werblin for $427,000 over three years, a pro football record at the time. Teammate Sherman Plunkett named him 'Broadway Joe' in 1965, after Namath appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated that July.

His first season, the one this card introduced, was a rookie's season: 2,220 yards, 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in 13 games. It earned him AFL Rookie of the Year honors. In 1967 he became the first professional quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season, with 4,007 in 14 games. He played through four knee operations and once had his knee drained at halftime to finish a game.

'I guarantee it'

Three days before Super Bowl III, a heckler at a banquet in Miami pushed Namath on the Jets' chances against the Baltimore Colts, an NFL team touted as one of the greatest ever. Namath answered: 'We're going to win the game. I guarantee it.' The Jets were 18-point underdogs, and the first two AFL-NFL title games had been NFL blowouts.

On January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Jets won 16-7. Namath completed 17 of 28 passes for 206 yards and was named the game's most valuable player without throwing a touchdown pass, still the only quarterback to do so. It was the first Super Bowl won by an AFL team, and it helped persuade the public that the AFL would enter the merger as an equal.

Off the field he was a new kind of sports celebrity: low-cut white cleats in a league of black high-tops, a full-length fur coat on the sideline, a nightclub the commissioner ordered him to sell, and television ads for Ovaltine, Noxzema and pantyhose that he wore on camera. Collectors say that persona is what the card captured. PSA's history calls it the card that 'captured its time like no other football card.'

What makes it hard to find in high grade

On the front Namath poses with the ball cocked to throw against a yellow background. The tall shape is the problem. It did not fit with standard cards, so children stored it badly, and the long edges with their narrow borders magnify any tilt in the cutting, which makes well-centered copies scarce. Printing flaws add to the difficulty.

Card #122 is a short print, printed in smaller numbers than many other cards in the set. Sources disagree about how many short prints the set has. PSA says more than half the set was short printed, a 2015 hobby history counts 'four dozen,' and a dealer that has studied the sheets says the layout produced 44 double prints and 132 short prints. A 2025 magazine piece calls Namath one of four short prints. All agree that the four key rookies, Namath, Willie Brown, Fred Biletnikoff and Ben Davidson, are short prints.

Some copies show an ink spot on Namath's left hand shaped like a butterfly. Collectors call it the 'Butterfly' variation, but PSA does not recognize it as a separate card and it carries little premium. The set has other quirks: Clem Daniels appears on both his own card and Art Powell's, and the player labeled Rick Redman is actually Larry Elkins.

Grading counts have grown over time. In 2014, four copies had reached PSA 9 out of roughly 1,000 submitted, with no 10s. PSA's census now shows five at MINT 9 and none higher, 78 at NM-MT 8 and more than 2,300 graded in all. A 2015 hobby article put the number of unqualified 9s across the three major graders at fewer than 700 for the entire set, roughly a tenth the number of 8s.

From a nickel pack to six figures

In September 2014 a PSA 9, one of only four at the time, sold privately for $60,000; one of the other three had sold for a record $20,000 in 2001. The seller described it as the centerpiece of the finest 1965 Topps set ever assembled: every card graded PSA 8 or higher, with 139 of the 176 at PSA 9.

On February 23, 2018, a PSA 9 sold for $264,000 at auction, the highest price reported for the card. A PSA 8.5 brought $207,400 at auction on October 1, 2023. By contrast, the best verified sale of Fran Tarkenton's 1962 Topps rookie, also a PSA 8.5, was $7,500. A PSA 8, the grade tracked on this page, sold for $49,200 at auction in April 2025.

Lower grades trade regularly. Recent PSA records show PSA 7 copies near $9,000 in March 2025, PSA 6 copies between $5,400 and $7,515 in 2025, and PSA 1 copies under $1,000.

Why it endures

Namath's numbers do not explain the card. He finished with 27,663 passing yards, 173 touchdowns and more interceptions (220) than touchdown passes, and he does not rank near the top of the major career passing lists. A 2025 analysis noted that only seven players have cards with verified sales above his rookie card, and most of them won far more on the field.

What he has instead is the guarantee, the first AFL Super Bowl, Broadway, and a card that arrived just as his fame took off. He went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 and choked up in his speech when he mentioned Bryant, who had died two years earlier. The Tall Boy is the first professional football card of 'Broadway Joe,' and it remains the card most collectors think of first when vintage football comes up.

The numbers

1965 season (card year, rookie)

13 G, 9 GS, 3-5-1 as starter, 164 of 340 (48.2%), 2,220 yds, 18 TD, 15 INT, 68.7 rating. AFL Rookie of the Year (AP, UPI, The Sporting News); AFL All-Star.

1966 season

14 G, 232 of 471, 3,379 yds, 19 TD, 27 INT. Led AFL in completions, attempts and yards.

1967 season

14 G, 258 of 491, 4,007 yds, 26 TD, 28 INT. First professional quarterback to pass 4,000 yards in a season.

1968 season

14 G, 11-3 as starter, 187 of 380, 3,147 yds, 15 TD, 17 INT. First-team All-AFL; AFL MVP.

Super Bowl III (Jan. 12, 1969)

17 of 28, 206 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT. Jets 16, Colts 7. Super Bowl MVP.

Career (1965-1977)

13 seasons, 140 G, 62-63-4 as starter, 1,886 of 3,762, 27,663 yds, 173 TD, 220 INT, 65.5 rating

Hall of Fame

Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1985

Timeline

1. May 31, 1943

   Joe Namath is born in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania.

2. 1964

   Namath quarterbacks Alabama to the national championship.

3. Nov 28, 1964

   The Jets take Namath first overall in the AFL draft; the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals take him 12th.

4. Jan 1965

   The day after the Orange Bowl, Namath signs with the Jets for a record $427,000 over three years.

5. Jul 1965

   Namath appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated; teammate Sherman Plunkett names him 'Broadway Joe.'

6. 1965

   Topps issues its 176-card 'Tall Boy' AFL set, with Namath's rookie card at #122.

7. 1965

   Namath is named AFL Rookie of the Year.

8. 1967

   Namath becomes the first pro quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a season (4,007).

9. Jan 12, 1969

   After guaranteeing victory, Namath leads the Jets past Baltimore 16-7 in Super Bowl III and is named MVP.

10. May 12, 1977

    Namath signs with the Los Angeles Rams; he retires after the season.

11. 1985

    Namath is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

12. Sep 2014

    A PSA 9 sells privately for $60,000; four copies had reached PSA 9 at the time.

13. Feb 23, 2018

    A PSA 9 sells at auction for $264,000, the highest reported price for the card.

14. Oct 1, 2023

    A PSA 8.5 sells at auction for $207,400.

15. Apr 2025

    A PSA 8 sells at auction for $49,200.

The world in 1965

• Feb 21, 1965

  Malcolm X is assassinated in Manhattan.

• Mar 7, 1965

  Bloody Sunday: Alabama state troopers attack civil rights marchers in Selma.

• Mar 8, 1965

  About 3,500 U.S. Marines land in South Vietnam, the first American combat troops there.

• Jun 3, 1965

  Ed White makes the first American spacewalk on Gemini 4.

• Jul 30, 1965

  President Johnson signs the law creating Medicare and Medicaid.

• Aug 6, 1965

  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 becomes law.

• Aug 15, 1965

  The Beatles play Shea Stadium in New York, the first stadium concert in rock history.

• Oct 28, 1965

  The Gateway Arch is completed in St. Louis.

Daily price data

FLOAT reprices this card every day from completed sales. Last updated November 12, 2026.

No completed sale at PSA 8 is on record yet. The same card at other grades:

Every grade and recorded sale for this card

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, 1965 Topps Joe Namath #122 RC is number 36 of 100 in the trading cards entries of the FLOAT 100. 97 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (54 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Topps made AFL cards because a rival company held the NFL's rights; Jim Brown, Unitas and Starr were not in Topps packs in 1965.
• 1965 was the only year Topps made football cards in the 'Tall Boy' size, though it reused the dimensions for basketball in 1969 and 1970.
• Some Namath rookies have an ink spot shaped like a butterfly on his left hand, but PSA does not treat it as a separate variation.
• Namath was named Super Bowl MVP without throwing a touchdown pass, and no other quarterback has done that.
• Several major league baseball clubs, including the Yankees and Mets, made offers to Namath out of high school.
• Namath's $427,000 contract with the Jets was a pro football record when he signed it.
• In the 1965 set, Clem Daniels appears on two cards: his own and Art Powell's.