Beyond Broadway Joe: The Super Team that Changed Football

This detailed narrative looks back at the 1968 New York Jets team that shocked the world by beating the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. In the straightforward narrative, Lederer, a market researcher and lifelong Jets fan, quickly recounts the season and big game before pulling back to highlight the players, coaches, and executives who made the Jets victory possible. In doing so, he turns the focus away from Joe Namath, the flashy, celebrity quarterback who promised fans a Jets victory before the game was played. The result is an anecdote-heavy but at times disjointed account of the team. Lederer tells of linebacker Al Atkinson playing the second half of the Super Bowl with a separated shoulder and of offensive tackle Winston Hill playing with a broken neck. Lederer also lists the many players who developed chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), or dementia due to head injuries. Most excitingly, Lederer weaves in the exclusive access he got to coach Weeb Ewbank’s playbooks, including personal player evaluations (running back Matt Snell “was not performing as well as his previous rookie season”) and the game plan for Superbowl III (Ewbank “knew that a short passing game and a strong running attack were essential to upending Baltimore”). Football fans will enjoy this comprehensive glimpse into one of the game’s great teams. Agent: Dawn Michelle Hardy, Serendipity Literary Agency. (Sept.)