Family and Alcohol Problems
While taking a voice class in 1983, Namath met Deborah Mays, an aspiring actress. He was 41 while she was 22, and they married in 1984. The couple had two children, Jessica in 1986 and Olivia in 1991, and the longtime bachelor became a family man. Namath and his wife were divorced in 2000.
On December 20, 2003, Namath gained new notoriety, apparently after partaking of too much celebratory champagne during the Jets' announcement of their all-time team. During live ESPN coverage of the Jets' game, Namath was asked about Chad Pennington and his thoughts on the struggles of that year's squad. Namath expressed confidence in Pennington, and then stated to the interviewer, Suzy Kolber, "I want to kiss you. I couldn't care less about the team strugg-a-ling." He later apologized. Several weeks later he publicly admitted to an alcohol problem and entered into an outpatient alcoholism treatment program on January 12, 2004, the 35th anniversary of Super Bowl III. Namath chronicled the episode, including his battle with alcoholism in his book, Namath.
Read more about this topic: Joe Namath
Famous quotes containing the words family, alcohol and/or problems:
“All happy families resemble one another, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910)
“Some parents feel that if they introduce their children to alcohol gradually in the home environment, the children will learn to use alcohol in moderation. I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. First of all, alcohol is not healthy for the growing child. Second, introducing alcohol to a child suggests that you condone drinking—even to the point where you want to teach your child how to drink.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)
“I conceive that the leading characteristic of the nineteenth century has been the rapid growth of the scientific spirit, the consequent application of scientific methods of investigation to all the problems with which the human mind is occupied, and the correlative rejection of traditional beliefs which have proved their incompetence to bear such investigation.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)