Much is said about the New York Jets Joe Namath and his excellent receiving corps. Much less is said about New York’s running game, though they had two excellent backs in Matt Snell and Emerson Boozer. In the following article, Boozer discusses why he chose the AFL, and his memories of the Super Bowl III team.
Why Emerson Boozer Chose the AFL
About the Author: Todd Tobias
Todd Tobias's interest in the American Football League began in 1998, when he wrote his master's thesis about Sid Gillman. He created this site to educate and entertain football fans with the stories of the American Football League, 1960-1969. You can follow Todd and get more AFL history on Twitter @TalesfromtheAFL.
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Boozer was by 1967, considered by some to be ‘the best’ back in the AFL, heady stuff for a second year guy out of Maryland State college.
That may have been moreso NY media talking; Mike Garrett and Clem Daniels were more often referenced by non-affiliated types as ahead of Emerson, but, at the time of his knee injury (suffered vs the Chiefs on a hit by CB Willie Mitchell as I recall) Boozer led the AFL in tds with 13 through just seven games/half a season, so his loss was big.
Some said Boozer’s loss stopped NY from going to the Superbowl an year earlier than they eventually did post ’68; the Jets were the only AFL team to beat the Champion Raiders in ’67. 5-1-1 entering the game vs KC, the Jets went just 3-4 the rest of the season.
* RE: ‘backs’, Jim Nance as Hoyle Granger/others were fullbacks for the record, and not HB’s as the aforementioned Boozer, Garrett and Daniels.
Boozer and Snell were a great pair of backs who have largely been unsung over the course of time.
Still, Boozer and Snell were among the first AFL players I read about as a kid in the late ’70’s. I remember the school library had some really good football books. As I’ve said in other posts, the Jets and Chiefs got more recognition than most AFL teams, since they defeated their NFL opponents in the Super Bowl.