More than 45 years after his retirement, Joe Namath remains one of the NFL's most popular quarterbacks. Starting with his guarantee that his New York Jets would defeat the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, his accomplishments on the gridiron, and style off of it, are legendary.
Today, that legacy is at risk following a court filing by a man who claims Namath ignored a child sex abuse scandal at his football camp.
The New York Post's Carl Campanile explains:
Philip Lyle Smith, 64, recently told The Post about his horrific ordeal at a Joe Namath Instructional Football Camp, speaking publicly for the first time about claims he detailed as “John Doe'' in an ongoing Brooklyn lawsuit.
Smith said his alleged sexual predator was well-known Brooklyn Poly Prep Country Club football coach Philip Foglietta, later revealed to be a serial pedophile who abused scores of students at the tony school.
Foglietta, who died in 1998, was allegedly allowed to repeatedly sexually attack Smith at the camp starting when the boy was just 12, said the married Florida real estate broker in court papers — claiming to The Post that Namath and other lawsuit defendants were “enablers and the pedophile protectors.”
Namath “was my idol” Smith told The Post. “And he went from my hero to a zero in my life.” Smith compares Namath's alleged neglect to that of former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno, who reportedly concealed evidence incriminating longtime defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky in a child sex abuse scandal.
“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,” court papers detailing Smith's accusations state.
The Post continues:
Smith's lawsuit claims that while Foglietta groomed and abused him, he received special perks at the camp, including involving the Jets Hall of Famer.
According to the report, Smith got to interact with Namath so much that some observers mistook him for Namath's nephew.
