Joe Namath is facing allegations that he turned a blind eye to abuse that happened that occurred at his football camp 50 years ago
NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath, who famously guaranteed that he would guide the Jets to their victory in Super Bowl III, is facing serious allegations regarding a football camp he used to host during his playing days.
One of the former campers, Philip Lyle Smith, filed the lawsuit in 2019 under the name ‘John Doe,’ and he spoke out publicly for the first time about the matter. He told the New York Post that Brooklyn Poly Prep Country Club football coach John Foglietta was allowed to repeatedly attack Smith at the camp starting in 1972 – when he was only 12 years old.
Foglietta was later revealed to be a serial sexual abuser at the school where he worked. He died in 1998.
“Back in those days, Joe Namath was my idol,’’ Smith told The Post. “And he went from my hero to a zero in my life.’’
The suit states clearly that although Namath and the other supervisors didn’t engage in the abuse themselves, they are liable due to having knowledge of it and not reporting it to the proper authorities..
“This case is equally about the many adults in positions of power at the [camp] including Joe Namath and [ex-Jets defensive back and camp partner John] Dockery, who were aware of, tolerated and covered up known sexual abuse at the camp, abuse that had a lasting effect on Doe,’’ according to allegations in amended court papers filed in 2021.
Namath played in the NFL from 1965-1977, most notably for the New York Jets but finishing up his final season with the LA Rams. As one of the league’s most publicized players, ‘Broadway Joe’ became a sports and pop culture icon. Thus far, there’s been no word from the former quarterback’s legal team regarding the lawsuit as of press time.
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