THE DAY THE EASTERN SHORE RULED THE SUPER BOWL

If you are headed out to a Super Bowl 50 Party this weekend, here is a little Eastern Shore football history small talk for you to share.

When the New York Jets and Baltimore Colts lined up to play Super Bowl III in January, 1969, no one gave the Jets much of a chance. The famous “guarantee” of victory issued by the Jets’ quarterback, Joe Namath, had been mostly laughed off back then as a silly bit of youthful and drunken braggadocio on Namath’s part.

But Namath’s Jets did just what he had promised, delivering a 16-7 victory that still ranks among the greatest of Super Bowl upsets.

There is a pretty amazing Eastern Shore footnote to the game.

• Five players on the two Super Bowl III teams came from the same school, and that school was the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, then called Maryland State College.

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