NAMATH, MAYNARD SKEWER THE JETS

On Sunday, the Jets celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl III championship by bringing together the members of that fabled team. During an ESPN-style third-quarter visit to the CBS booth by quarterback Joe Namath, the man who guaranteed victory in that championship game all those years ago had some choice words for the current version of the Jets. Though Brett Favre threw three interceptions (it would have been four if Derrick Johnson hadn’t been eating popcorn), Namath said that he’s concerned “about the overall concept of our team, not the quarterback, right now.” Take that, Tangini. “I know they are trying, but today they are making Kansas City look good,” Namath said. “A quarterback is gonna get hit, no doubt about that, but the accumulation of the bumps and bruises must have [Brett Favre] at the most fragile as at any point in his career.” Before the game, 1968 Jets receiver Don Maynard pointed out that too many of today’s coaches have no meaningful playing experience. And Maynard actually did research (so much for these old-timers all being punch drunk . . . or in Namath’s case whiskey drunk). [Editor’s note: Namath wasn’t drunk yesterday; we know that because he tried to kiss neither Greg Gumbel nor Dan Dierdorf.] “You have 106 coaches in the NFC that’s never played pro ball, you got 126 in the AFC that’s never played pro ball,” Maynard said. “You got 64 coaches that never played college football, so now you know why the knowledge of pro football has gone downhill.” Jets coach Eric Mangini didn’t play pro football. When asked about his lack of NFL experience, Mangini likely smiled and said that his football career ended in college because of a leg injury.