NEW ORLEANS -- Joe Namath walked the red carpet at NFL Honors on Saturday, because, of course he did. He's Joe Namath.
Around The League caught up with the legendary quarterback, who's been suspiciously quiet about the New York Jets in recent months. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when Namath had an opinion on everything Gang Green. He purposely shared less as the Jets sank to 6-10 this season.
"I'm an eyeball kind of guy. I can see an athlete, where some players can fool other people," he said. "I have an eye for things. I have an ear that goes along with that eye that I can get a little irritated when I hear some stuff being said that's not real, it's not true, it's not right."
We asked Namath for an example.
Namath said he believes Ryan deserves another season to make things right, though he acknowledged the coach is in a "strange situation" with a new general manager in John Idzik and the defection of 10 coaches from his staff.
As for Mark Sanchez, Namath is in the camp that believes Sanchez can redeem himself if the Jets put better weapons around him.
"It's a team game and the Jets have gradually gone downhill personnel wise from year one to two and two to three and three to four," Namath said. "So Mark has to overcome some of the decisions that he's made last year. He's gonna learn from it. As long as he stays healthy, he's going to be around as long as he wants because he has the physical tools."
Namath is both a Jets fan and an eternal optimist. That is a scary combination.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
