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As a teenager in Mobile, Ala., Richard Todd looked up to Joe Namath,
whose path he followed first as a star quarterback at
Alabama, then as the No. 1 draft pick of the New York Jets
in 1976. The chance to play on the same team as his hero
was, Todd said, "a dream
come true." Today, his memories from 11 years in the
NFL don't seem quite the stuff of dreams. "When you're
younger you think football is just a fun game," he
says. "Let's be honest, it's not."
Todd spent his first eight years with the Jets, and his
disillusionment came early. New York released Namath after
the '76 season and handed his job to the 23-year-old Todd.
The fans and media in the Big Apple expected a smooth
transition; when Todd
threw more interceptions than touchdown passes in each of his
first five seasons, he was booed brutally and bashed by the
press. In '81 Todd snapped, shoving a
New York
Post reporter against a locker. Says Todd with a sigh, "I
wish I was more patient with the media. But being a
quarterback in New York isn't
easy."
The next year, however, he made it look simple. He inspired
Jets fans to wave
TODD IS
GOD signs as he led them to the playoffs, where he completed
67.3% of his throws in wins over the Cincinnati Bengals and
the Los Angeles Raiders. The following week, in the AFC
Championship Game against the Miami Dolphins, Todd strutted
onto the
rain-soaked field at the Orange Bowl thinking Super Bowl. "We
were prepared," he recalls. "I was ready."
Those who watched him in the Jets' 14-0 loss would say
otherwise. He connected on just 15 of 37 passes for 103
yards and threw five interceptions, one of which
was returned for a touchdown. A year later Todd was dealt
to the New Orleans
Saints.
For Todd, life has improved since he left the NFL. He works
as a manager and salesman for Bear, Stearns & Co. in
Atlanta. He and his wife, Lulu, have what Richard calls
"a modern marriage," in which he keeps an
apartment near the office and flies his
310 Cessna on weekends to Florence, Ala., where Lulu lives
with their children, Richard, 11, Darbi, 7, and James, 2.
He says he doesn't miss the game. He definitely doesn't
miss the jeers. "If I could do it all over again,
maybe I'd be a backup
quarterback," says Todd. "Everybody likes
them."
—by Jamie Horowitz Cover photograph by Ronald C. Modra
Issue date: January 12, 1998
Past Editions of Catching Up With...
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