National Football Foundation

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., “Sonny” Werblin was a graduate of Rutgers University, where he later served on the Board of Governors and Trustees. He played football at Rutgers as a freshman before suffering a shoulder injury, and he would become the swimming team manager. Werblin spent his post-college days as a free-lance reporter from 1929-32 and then joined the Music Corporation of America as vice-president. He served as president of MCA from 1952-65.

An avid sportsman, Werblin served as secretary and director of the Monmouth Park Jockey Club from 1949-71. He also helped change the defunct New York Titans into a successful New York Jets’ franchise in 1963 and served as the team’s president until 1968. His signing of Joe Namath to a $400,000 contract helped turn the pro football salary structure around. He was the guiding light and spark of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority and served as its chairman from 1971-78. In that time, Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. and the Meadowlands Race Track were built. Werblin resigned in 1978 to take over the leadership of Madison Square Garden. He died of a heart attack in 1991 at the age of 81.