Annie O'Neill, Post-Gazette Joe Namath talks with fans at Joseph-Beth Booksellers during a book signing for his autobiography "Namath."

By Colin Dunlap
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette There he stood at 63, on two artificial knees, still the personification of cool.

After all these years, not many people approach Joe Namath's scope, even if he has traded in a showy fur coat and Fu Manchu for the clean-shaven look, complete with an unpretentious, green half-zip sweater.

		Listen In In town for a book signing, football immortal and Beaver Falls native "Broadway Joe" Namath talks with the PG's Colin Dunlap: His struggles with alcohol and his new life of sobriety. How he helped create the celebrity culture of the NFL. His take on why the Steelers are struggling this season. Listen to the entire interview

Namath bridged the expanse between popular culture and sports when doing so was not commonplace as it is today.

Last night, he was at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in the SouthSide Works, penning his autograph on the inside covers of more than 1,000 copies of his new autobiography titled "Namath."

Without hesitation, Beaver Falls' most famous son admitted his recent past hasn't been without potholes and bumps, most recently when he implored, to no avail, sideline reporter Suzy Kolber to kiss him in December 2003 on national television.

Soon after, he entered alcohol rehabilitation and yesterday Namath boasted:

"Well, 1,051 days of sobriety," he said. "That's something I take a lot of pride in.

"I'm one of those people who have found that my life is much better without [alcohol]. I'm not the kind of person who can have a drink or two. The next thing you know, you have three drinks and then ..."

Broadway Joe said the drunken Kolber episode was a life-changing moment.

"It was embarrassing not only to me, which is no big deal because I have been embarrassed a thousand times," he said. "But it really is embarrassing and painful to see your family have to go through my behavior. ... It didn't feel good at all.

"The answer now is that old Joe just can't drink anymore. That's that."

But "old Joe" is still a popular man.

Several people have said that, in his heyday at least, every man in the American populace wanted to be Namath and every woman wanted to be with Namath.

That sort of iconic aura remains -- especially with the ladies. It was evident last night as adoring fans, including a large female contingent, flooded the bookstore.

"There's only one Joe," said Dianne Baginski, a stunning dark-haired woman originally from Yonkers, N.Y., who now lives in Brentwood. She was wearing a Namath jersey.

Dan Meese, 53, of Uniontown, drove for 90 minutes to the Namath signing.

"I suppose that, with some of the things he's done, his image is tarnished a bit," Meese said. "But, to be honest, it is hard to look at all of that. It is much easier to look at Joe Namath for his accomplishments on the football field and the larger-than-life figure that he was, and that he still is."

At least to the crowd gathered on the South Side, Namath still is an uber-cool icon.

"He just has that charisma and aura about him," said Baginski, who admits she still swoons a little over Namath.

"Like I said, there's just one Joe. Broadway Joe."