Was watchin the Namath doc and it talks about his bar "Bachelors III" that the nfl made him sell his interests in 1969 bc it was being frequented by mobsters. I checked online but i cant find more specific info

Does anyone know of who was spotted there and who specifically the fbi alleged namath was palling around with?

In the doc it shows a newspaper clipping of an article titled "mafia boss spotted at Bachelors III" or something like that. I cant find the article. Anyone of the saavy posters on here able to locate this or other articles about what specific gangsters were there or anyone have any insight? Thanks fellas

located at 798 Lexington Avenue in New York City.


The Ridiculous Saga of Bachelors III
No discussion of Broadway Joe would be complete without touching on the aggravating and thoroughly bizarre story of his foray into private enterprise.
In 1969, Namath, along with two other investors, opened a night club on the East Side called Bachelors III (the name referred to the three principles, all of whom were single). Considering the amount of time Joe spent warming bar stools, opening a place of his own made perfect sense. The buzz around town was electric, and Bachelors III opened to rave reviews, turn-away crowds and colossal receipts. Plans were quickly implemented to open carbon copies in Florida and Boston.

Bachelors III became Joe’s sanctuary, a place where he was always welcome and at his ease. Then along came NFL Commissioner (and noted stick-in-the-mud) Pete Rozelle.

Hyper-concerned about the public image of League players, Rozelle got his jockeys all in a twist over the sorts of people who frequented Bachelors III, and thus came into regular contact with Joe Namath. Specifically, Rozelle fretted over the presence of three men: Carmine Tramunti, Tommy “Tea Balls” Mancuso (who had followed Joe from the Pussycat), and Carmine Persico (who, in a few short years, would rise to the role of Godfather of the Colombo Family). They were known mobsters, killers even, with FBI jackets thicker than Rosie O’Donnell’s ham-salad bill. To Rozelle’s knee-jerk way of thinking, it was a very short step from drinking with gangsters to being controlled by gangsters. He might’ve been right to worry about other guys, but not Joe Namath. Rozelle’s paranoia shows how ignorant he was about Namath’s character. The likelihood that Joe would have gambled on football or fallen under the sway of Mafia goons was about the same as the possibility of him moving to Mongolia and taking up sheep herding. In any event, Rozelle went after Joe, pointing out a section of the QB’s contract which stated that NFL players must never “enter drinking or gambling establishments” or “associate with notorious persons.” (Notorious persons? Hadn’t Rozelle ever met Al Davis?)


More to the story@ http://drunkard.com/issues/01_07/01_07_broadway_joe.html

Nj youre the fuckin man nice find sir, thanks! Was tramunti the lucchese boss at that time? I believe tommy had died that year and he was boss until ducks got outta the can is that right?

Any idea who that mancuso guy is?

Also i started readin the book by dan moldea on the nfl and the mafia i forget the title and i cant find the damn book to continue but what i read had alotta evidence about Len Dawson of the Chiefs and his connection to the Civella fam in kc and possible betting. Anyone know more about this!? For the life of me cant find the book

Not a problem Mikey...Correct, he was the boss until he got locked up in 73..I read that Mancuso was an enforcer for Tramunti in the bar/restaurant business.

Oh okay so a lucchese soldier id assume? Thanks again for the info that was buggin me after watchin that namath doc which is great u should check it out if u havent already

Not bein a mob fan boy but theres somethin cool to me about old school star athletes boozin and gamblin w real big time mob guys in 1969 when they basically owned nyc.. Idc if theyre bad guys or not...Love to hear any more stories anyone has about athletes hangin w mob guys back in the day

What stan wrote that article? Namath was well aware of who the high profile , non-famous, NY guys who frequented his bar and who they were. He even alludes to it in that HBO documentary, in sort of like a "Yea, so what" kind of way he talks about it. The doc actually lays most of the blame to one of Namath's partners in the bar, for being too closely associated with gangsters.

Bruins Legend Derek Sanderson Recalls His Venture Into The Bar Business With Joe Namath

http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/balancin...h-bachelors-iii

So Tommy Mancuso was a Luchesse family enforcer?

Was he a relative of current Bonnanno boss Mikey Mancuso?

Good article about Namath's bar. Thanks for posting.

He was believed to be a soldier in the Lucchese family who also dabbled in the Heroin trade. Another regular at Bachelors was John "Johnny Echoes" Campopiano, who was a junk dealer from Pleasant Ave.


Here's a Life Magazine article with pictures of Tramunti, Persico, and Mancuso.

https://books.google.com/books?id=e08EAA...uso&f=false

Buddy of mine played with namath on the jets then, he was a backup LB and special teams, wasnt a partier but said namath was best dude in the world and hung out with him on occassion in manhattan, I will ask him about this....my buddy is 100% straight laced dude and had summer job back then in construction because salary was so bad, great dude and turns red when we mention if he ever got any of broadway joes leftovers

"I like my women blonde, and my Johnny Walker Red"

Joe Willie was a one of a kind QB who is still thought of highly in Alabama of course. Here he is home much like Beaver Falls and he can do no wrong. That was a main reason he went back to school after dropping alcohol after the Suzy Kolber deal and got himself straight. He looks fairly good these days compared to what he did.

Him and Kenny Stabler always have a home in Bama. Two great QB's with even bigger legends behind the name.

Anyone know more about lenny dawson and the kc mob andbettin on games? Anyone have any other stories of pro athletes and the mob? Also,does anyone know more about who that nba ref tim donaghy was connected with? I thought I remember someone in the Gambinos but not sure..any insight fellas? Thanks

Another "Bachelors III" regular who was very tight w/Joe Willie was a Westside guy "Gazut Calderazzo" , Gazut's remains were found in a desert grave in California (Frattiano talks about this murder in The Last Mafioso) he was killed by Joe (Spencer) Ullo (also WS Guy) who thought that Gazut was sent to kill him. Ullo at the time owed $$$ to Chin and was once given a beating at Joe's Restaurant on McDougal street because of the $$ he owed. Ullo skipped to California and was said to have started his own California based crew. Doing this on his own. No sanction from anyone. At a sitdown in NYC Frattiano say's that Chin, Funzi , Fat Tony , & Eli all voted to kill Ullo and sent Gazut to California to do this. Ullo struck 1st and Gazuts remains were returned to NYC in a shoe box (jawbone) as the coyotes also had ravaged his corpse.

remember Namath as a ram, at the end of his career, they booed the clown relentlessly, it was sad. they even booed him when he sat on the bench, he was literally booed out of football.

Georgia frontier who owned the rams at the time [carroll rosenblooms widow] thought he would bring in people.

bad move, he was a joke.

Darco says in his book which if you want a good mob book is the best one out in the last few years claims Paul various had joes super bowl ring adjusted and shit

I heard Phil Villapiano was a friend of Gotti. Supposedly he gave Gotti a Raider Jacket that Gotti occassionaly wore and a Super Bowl ring.

Nice find NJCapo35

al davis had a sign autograph picture of that photo above in his office. his son is a weirdo. but your al davis kid so its aspected. wish my dad was a nfl owner. like when them 30 owners sit in a room that's a real commission meeting. that would be good read was any nfl owner close to a boss. I always wonder about sport owners and guys. im guessing that guy dibella ent a box promoter from bk had to be related to the Colombo guy. boxing Brooklyn somethting

That's crazy I never knew that. I bet LT was pretty right with a lot of mobsters back in the day as well.

theres a story that appeared in an old sports illustrated issue. circa 1972 I believe. it gave the impression that carol rosenbloom [owner of the Baltimore colts] was a compulsive gambler, and knew some made guys, out of that came speculation that maybe the super bowl of 1969 the year the jets and Namath won, may not have been on the up and up.

bubba smith made a comment onetime regarding the game. and, said something to the effect that he felt something was wrong from the get go.

does anyone else remember that game and what our your opinions? rosenbloom later was found drown, some say his death was mysterious.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-204198.html

That Raiders jacket is just like one my brother wore (and I inherited) in the mid 90's.

Who is that guy Gotti is with BTW?

Jackie D'Amico I think

No it isn't. It's Anthony "Tony Lee" Guerrieri.

Ehhhhhhhh I took a shot lol

Lol I probably would've guess it was Jackie The Nose too if I'd hadn't seen that photo in the Five Families book.

Yea he should have never went to the Rams. Once his career was over with the Jets he should have retired then.

The biggest tragedy is that we never got to really see a healthy Joe Namath. If he would have grown up in this day and time, he would have been an elite dual threat and would have been even more rich than he is now. Try to find his old Bama footage before his Senior year. Dude was super fast and in those old jump passes he would throw he had as much air as you see the NBA guys get these days. Coach Bryant didn't say he was the best player he ever coached for no reason. Don't forget he was a big recruit in baseball too and could have went pro there as well out of high school.

Who would have thought a Yankee would have come to Bama and become a legend? It sure would have been pretty though to see a healthy Namath in the AFL/NFL as he was a great FOOT-BAWLLL player.

Looking back to the late '60's the typical football player and quaterback resembled Johnny Unitas. Hi Top black cleats, flat top crew cut and no facial hair. Then came Joe Willie, white low cut cleats, fu man chu, long hair and cocky with lots of attitude. Boy did he stand out and did all linemen hate him. When I played High School ball at that time we wanted to hurt any quateback that dressed or look liked him. The pros did the same with guys like Ben Davidson from Oakland. Looking back on it, he was such an amazing athlete and inspite of having a huge target on his back, he exceled. Joe Willie epitomized cool. I am glad I grew up watching him play.

I don't think he was that cocky honestly. The media portrayed him that way of course because of reasons like you said. Like he said in that documentary he was just confident. He didn't play "politically correct" b.s. when talking to the media. Even his guarantee to win the Super Bowl wasn't really a guarantee, but yet the media went nuts over it.

It was hard to be "cocky" after you just spent 4 years under Coach Bryant. He liked his boys to be confident but he would knock kids down a notch or two if you were. When he sat Namath for the Orange Bowl for drinking (the rumors were IIRC was he was busted by Tuscaloosa PD for either DUI or public drunkeness something like that) people thought he was crazy and Joe Willie thought he was done at Bama and Coach Bryant admitted he almost kicked him off the team and was looking for him to transfer out until he changed his mind.

It was also funny listening to Coach McCollough and Coach Schnellenberger talk about Coach Bryant letting Joe Willie go up to the top of the tower. Back then no player was allowed on the tower where Coach Bryant watched practices from, hell some coaches never even went up there much less a player.

But the biggest thing I liked about Joe Willie is that you will NEVER hear a fellow teammate dog him or say anything bad about him. When it was game time he cut it on and gave it everything.