Back to the NFL Newsfeed

Former Jets' Joe Namath and Winston Hill: A rose, a scotch and a Hall of Fame friendship

The 50-year friendship between the famous quarterback and his trusted protector was born at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, 1965.

Joe Namath, recovering from knee surgery, hadn't played a down in the NFL yet. He was 21, already rich because of a landmark contract with the New York Jets, but he felt helpless and alone in a new city. There was a knock at the door and in walked Winston Hill, the team's hulking left tackle.

Namath and Hill would go on to play 12 years together in New York, winning a historic Super Bowl and reaching the ultimate football destination -- the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.