Joe Namath: Overcoming Addiction and Improving His Diet | Trending Now

Joe Namath on his battle with alcohol, staying sober for 13 years as a “dry drunk” and the combination of fear, support and religious beliefs that help him overcome the addiction.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hey guys, Graham here. It's Friday, which means we get
to share with you another one ofour most popular clips from a
past interview this week, Joe Namath.
How often would there be drinking, partying the night
before a game? Unless it was with the owners or

(00:26):
with the team, there wasn't thatkind of thing.
At a home game. I'd go out to dinner or so, but
there wasn't any partying. Now, when you talk about
drinking 3 or 4 drinks, you knowthat that was not abnormal.
I mean, I'm not talking about going out and getting drunk the

(00:46):
night before a game. OK, maybe we did sometimes, too.
It's my memory again. It gets me.
But it would be uncommon to be drunk or hungover on an actual
game day. Absolutely.
It's absolutely uncommon. To what extent does it bother
you that there are stories out there about that, that it's kind

(01:08):
of people view that as part of your legend when in reality, you
know, as you're saying, it's notas much the case?
Well, no, I'm not saying it didn't happen from time to time.
I'm just saying it wasn't an issue and it wasn't influential
on our physical conditioning at the time.
At least we didn't think it was.We didn't know.

(01:30):
How was your diet back then? I don't think any of us ever
thought about what was in the food we were eating because on
game day we'd have our pregame meal and all I'd have is coffee,
maybe a piece of toast, and thenchew on the back.
Really. I was a guy that carried the
salt shaker in the back pocket when we went out on the apples,

(01:52):
on the radishes, on the watermelon, you name it.
Man, salt was wonderful. No one knew about the proper
diets for athletes back then. They thought they did, but they
didn't. We didn't know about how to get
the body strong through weight lifting without getting
tightened up. So professional football players

(02:13):
didn't lift weights until the 70s.
There were things we didn't knowand we're glad that they found
out for sure. I know guys that have had
drinking problems that never gave it a thought because it was
like a regular routine. And then the next thing you know
it is a routine and you're doingit every day and it starts to

(02:35):
control your life and destroy it.
So you have to find the strengthto shift gears.
When did you realize you wanted to stop drinking altogether?
When my wife told me I needed towhen my daughter Jessica was
just about a year old, I made a deal with my wife at the time

(02:56):
that if I didn't stop on my own,I would check into a rehab
place. Well, I was so terrified of a
rehab place and what the consequences of notoriety in a
rehab place might bring or feel like that I knew I wasn't going
to drink and I was able to stop drinking and stay sober for 13

(03:20):
years. I was, after getting an
education this last time I was, I learned I was what you call a
dry drunk without the education and understanding alcohol and
understanding the system physically and emotionally and
just quitting with the strength and determination.
That's called a dry drunk. You do need support.
When I did get an education, it was joyful because not only did

(03:47):
it help me spiritually, I saw people that I didn't want to end
up like, I believe their stories, their help, you know,
and telling me what they're telling me.
And it's a matter of shifting gears and carrying fear.
I still have a fear for what that stuff does to me and what

(04:07):
it could do to me. So every day I'm thankful and I
do say my little prayer to whatever God I choose, my God,
and it helps. It helps.
What's involved with ultimately overcoming the problem?

(04:27):
The addiction. Well, I think sugar has a lot to
do with it. For one thing, there's a whole
lot of sugar in there too. And if you come, if you're
constantly getting a certain amount of sugar, that could be
part of it. But I, I, I, I think to me it
was mental, it was emotional andsomewhat of an escape, being
able to shed responsibilities orbeing on stage as an athlete, as

(04:50):
a ball player and just want to say, forget it.
Let me you know. And that was a way of escaping
some. What advice would you have for
somebody who may be watching, who wants to stop drinking but
is unable to stop? Get some help.
Go see someone with Alcoholics Anonymous.
You've got to want to do it, understand about it, understand

(05:14):
what it is and ask for help. You know, it's it's like you ask
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot
change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to
know the difference. Those three things that you
know, every day that comes to mind and it's solid.

(05:35):
It's good if you can get throughthe physical part of it, what
withdrawals they might be, theremight be or what withdrawals you
think there are. It becomes an attitude.
I always think of the down times, how it made me feel, how
I fouled up everything I ever did in my life.
It seemed that I was really screwy and wrong about I had

(05:56):
some kind of alcohol input. And so I I know I'm a slow
learner, but by God I've learned.
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