In Carson’s first NFL action, he became transfixed while staring across the line of scrimmage into the eyes of Joe Namath. “I wish all the boys back home could see me now,” he thought as he assumed his middle linebacker position in a preseason game against the New York Jets. Viewing the celebrity quarterback at close range left Carson thinking, “He really does have blue eyes!”
Even before being raked over the coals for his lack of concentration in a film session the following day, Carson determined to make that the “first, last, and only time” he would be in awe of anyone on the field.
