Joe Namath shares thoughts on Tom Brady's future with Patriots

Joe Namath doesn’t want Tom Brady to make the same mistake he did.

Namath will always be remembered as the New York Jets quarterback who guaranteed and delivered a Super Bowl win in 1969, the team’s only title.

Broadway Joe, a Beaver Falls native, was drafted by the Jets in 1965 and played 12 season with the franchise, but he retired after a year with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977.

That final year didn’t go well — he played four games and the team went 2-2. The Rams made the playoffs, but Namath didn’t play.

As the NFL world waits to see whether Tom Brady, who has been the face of the New England Patriots for 20 years, jumps to another team, Namath shared some thoughts.

“I wish I knew what I learned in making that transition before making it, meaning it turned out to be a very difficult transition,” Namath said in an interview with ESPN’s Rich Cimini.

Namath didn’t say whether he thinks Brady, the 42-year-old, six-time Super Bowl champion, should move to another team, but he said it seems unimaginable.

“It’s almost beyond my belief that he would go to another team under any circumstances,” Namath said. “I can’t imagine that separation. Moving out of the New England area that he’s been so accustomed to, and his family, that’s a hard thing, too. I don’t think he’ll ever leave that totally behind. I really don’t.”

But Namath said he hopes Brady continues playing.

“I want to see him play as long as he physically and mentally wants to, man, because we’ve all seen over the years the execution that has been superb more times than not. We don’t get to see that kind of player, that kind of character, very often. It’s very rare,” Namath said.

Brady is set to become a free agent when the NFL offseason opens in March, making it the first time in his career that he could consider offers from other teams. Brady recently shared on social media that he still has more to prove.