 Morrall in 1965 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 11, 10, 14, 15 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1934-05-17)May 17, 1934 Muskegon, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died: | April 25, 2014(2014-04-25) (aged 79) Fort Lauderdale, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Muskegon (MI) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Michigan State | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1956: 1st round,2nd pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Earl Morrall | |
|---|---|
| Mayor ofDavie, Florida | |
| In office 1992 – July 6, 1992 | |
| Member ofDavie City Council | |
| In office 1989 – July 6, 1992 | |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Republican |
Earl Edwin Morrall (/ˈmɔːrəl/; May 17, 1934 – April 25, 2014) was an American professionalfootball player who was aquarterback in theNational Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, both a starter and reserve. He was the last remaining player from the 1950s still active in NFL football. He started for six teams, most notably with theBaltimore Colts and theMiami Dolphins. He became known as one of the greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history, having served in the capacity for two Hall of Fame quarterbacks inJohnny Unitas andBob Griese. An injury to Unitas in 1968 saw Morrall step in to start the season that saw the Colts to a 13–1 record (along with an MVP for Morrall) that saw them win their firstNFL Championship in nine years before ineffective play inSuper Bowl III saw him benched for Unitas. Two years later, inSuper Bowl V, Morrall came off the bench for an injured Unitas and kept the Colts in the game before they ultimately won on a last-second field goal. In his first season with Miami in 1972, he came off the bench when Griese became injured early in the year, with Morrall winning all nine starts; Morrall started the first two playoff games, with Griese playing in each game before being named the starter forSuper Bowl VII, where the Dolphins completedthe only perfect season in NFL history.
Morrall ledMuskegon High School inMuskegon, Michigan to a state football championship in 1951 and state baseball championship in 1952 (where he stole home). He attendedMichigan State University, where he played under head coachesBiggie Munn andDuffy Daugherty. He played three seasons for theMichigan State Spartans football team, leading them to a 9–1 record in the1955 season. He capped his senior year with a victory over theUCLA Bruins in the1956 Rose Bowl. Morrall also playedbaseball at Michigan State and played in theCollege World Series as ashortstop andthird baseman. He was offered the opportunity to play professional baseball but chose instead to play football.
In his more than two decades on the professional gridiron, Morrall played for six different teams, starting with his rookie year in 1956 as a first-round selection by theSan Francisco 49ers, the second overall pick in the draft. He made appearances in the first four games before being slated to start the fifth game of the year on October 28. He went 7-of-12 for 148 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He started the next three games before appearing sporadically in two further games. In total, he went 38-of-78 with 621 passing yards with a touchdown and six interceptions. On the punting side, he kicked 45 of them for 1,705 yards (he would make occasional appearances as punter in seven seasons to total 106 for 3,995 yards with one block).[1] On September 16, 1957, he was traded along withguardMike Sandusky to thePittsburgh Steelers in exchange forlinebackerMarv Matuszak and two first-round draft picks. He would appear all twelve games that year for the Steelers (with eleven starts), helping them to a 6–6 record while throwing for 1,900 yards with eleven touchdowns to twelve interceptions.[2] Despite the high cost of the transaction, the Steelers traded him just over a year later to theDetroit Lions in order to obtain future Hall of FamerBobby Layne. He started the first two games of the 1958 season (both losses) before being traded to theDetroit Lions, for which he would appear sporadically in six games.[3] Morrall was with the Lions for the next six years, having his best season in 1963 by throwing for 24 touchdowns and more than 2,600 yards. The following year, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in an October 18 contest against theChicago Bears.
After spending the off-season rehabilitating from his injury, Morrall was dealt by the Lions to theNew York Giants forMike Lucci who had been acquired from theCleveland Browns,Darrell Dess and a draft pick as part of a three-team transaction onAugust 30, 1965. The Browns obtained defensive backErich Barnes from the Giants to complete the trade.[4] Enduring his role during the Giants' rebuilding phase, Morrall threw for 2,446 yards and 22 touchdowns that season, but after breaking his wrist in 1966 found himself seeing spot duty over the course of the next two years after the Giants acquiredFran Tarkenton. He was traded to the Baltimore Colts for an undisclosed draft choice onAugust 25, 1968.Butch Wilson was sent to the Giants to complete the transaction eight days later onSeptember 2.[5][6]
During the1968 Baltimore Colts season, Morrall turned in the best performance of his career. As the replacement for an injuredJohnny Unitas (who had won league MVP the previous season), the veteran quarterback guided the Colts to 13–1 record, passed for 2,909 yards and an NFL-high 26 touchdown passes, all of which earned him league Most Valuable Player honors. The team won the NFL Championship in a shutout victory but were upset inSuper Bowl III against theNew York Jets, where Morrall was taken out late for Unitas. Morrall had a chance to redeem his past woes withSuper Bowl V. With the Colts trailing 13–6 in the second quarter, he was tasked to step in for Unitas, who was knocked out of the game on a rib injury. He would go 7-of-15 while throwing an interception with 147 yards. However, a series of turnovers and luck (Craig Morton, his counterpart, went 12-of-26 with 127 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, with the last two resulting in eventual Colt points) resulted in the Colts managing to keep themselves in the game, andJim O'Brien would kick a field goal from 32 yards out to give the Colts a 16–13 victory. His next chance at regular season starts was in 1971, as he started the first nine games of the 1971 season for the Colts (while appearing in one further game). He threw for 1,210 yards with seven touchdowns and twelve interceptions as the Colts went on to a 10–4 record with Unitas handling the duties for the playoffs.[7]
For the following year, he moved on to theMiami Dolphins (coached byDon Shula, who had managed Baltimore until 1970). After starting quarterbackBob Griese was hurt during the October 15 win against theSan Diego Chargers, Morrall was tasked to start for the team, and he went 8-of-10 for 86 yards with two touchdowns while Miami won the game.[8] With Miami at a 5–0 record, he proceeded to start the nine remaining games of the season, for which he would win all of them while throwing eleven touchdowns to seven interceptions on 1,360 yards as the team was buoyed mostly by its rushing attack (two of his starts had no touchdowns while two others didn't have an interception).[9][10] The 1972 team achieved the first undefeated regular season in theNFL since 1942. He started the Divisional Round game against theCleveland Browns and went 6-of-13 for 88 yards while the Dolphins managed to win 20-14 (on the strength of a blocked punt returned byCharlie Babb, two field goals, and aJim Kiick touchdown).[11] He started the AFC Championship Game against thePittsburgh Steelers. He went 7-of-11 for 51 yards while throwing a touchdown and an interception. He was pulled later in the game for Griese while the Dolphins held on to win 21–17; Griese would startSuper Bowl VII, which resulted in a victory and aSuper Bowl ring for the Dolphins.[12] Overall, he filled in for eleven games for an injuredBob Griese, winning all of them. Together, Morrall and Griese won three postseason games (includingSuper Bowl VII) to complete the onlyperfect season in NFL history.
Over the next four seasons, he would make occasional appearances in games, starting three combined times while the Dolphins won another Super Bowl with Griese at the helm. He announced his retirement on May 2, 1977.[13] Until firstDoug Flutie and thenVinny Testaverde almost 30 years later, Morrall was the oldest quarterback to start and win a football game in the NFL. In those 21 seasons, he was part of 255 games, completing 1,379 passes for 20,809 yards and 161 touchdowns while having a 63–36–3 record as starter. In 2015, Morrall,Griese andDan Marino were voted to the50 greatest players in the Miami Dolphins' 50-year history.
Morrall madePro Bowl appearances following the 1957 and 1968 seasons. He was named the NFL MVP in 1968, and finished 2nd in MVP voting in 1972.[14] He led the league in passing in 1968 and the AFC in 1972.[15]
In 2018, theProfessional Football Researchers Association named Morrall to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2018.[16]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| APNFL MVP | |
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Won theNFL championship | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
| 1956 | SF | 12 | 4 | 1–3 | 38 | 78 | 48.7 | 621 | 8.0 | 1 | 6 | 37 | 48.1 |
| 1957 | PIT | 12 | 11 | 6−5 | 139 | 289 | 48.1 | 1,900 | 6.6 | 11 | 12 | 64 | 64.9 |
| 1958 | PIT | 2 | 2 | 0–2 | 16 | 46 | 34.8 | 275 | 6.0 | 1 | 7 | 66 | 23.6 |
| DET | 9 | 0 | – | 9 | 32 | 28.1 | 188 | 5.9 | 4 | 2 | 66 | 65.1 | |
| 1959 | DET | 12 | 5 | 2−3 | 65 | 137 | 47.4 | 1,102 | 8.0 | 5 | 6 | 79 | 69.1 |
| 1960 | DET | 12 | 2 | 2−0 | 32 | 49 | 65.3 | 423 | 8.6 | 4 | 3 | 65 | 94.2 |
| 1961 | DET | 13 | 6 | 4−2 | 69 | 150 | 46.0 | 909 | 6.1 | 7 | 9 | 61 | 56.2 |
| 1962 | DET | 14 | 0 | − | 32 | 52 | 61.5 | 449 | 8.6 | 4 | 4 | 53 | 82.9 |
| 1963 | DET | 14 | 10 | 4−5–1 | 174 | 328 | 53.0 | 2,621 | 8.0 | 24 | 14 | 75 | 86.2 |
| 1964 | DET | 6 | 3 | 3–0 | 50 | 91 | 54.9 | 588 | 6.5 | 4 | 3 | 48 | 75.7 |
| 1965 | NYG | 14 | 14 | 7−7 | 155 | 302 | 51.3 | 2,446 | 8.1 | 22 | 12 | 89 | 86.3 |
| 1966 | NYG | 7 | 7 | 1–5–1 | 71 | 151 | 47.0 | 1,105 | 7.3 | 7 | 12 | 98 | 54.1 |
| 1967 | NYG | 8 | 0 | − | 13 | 24 | 54.2 | 181 | 7.5 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 100.9 |
| 1968 | BAL | 14 | 14 | 13–1 | 182 | 317 | 57.4 | 2,909 | 9.2 | 26 | 17 | 84 | 93.2 |
| 1969 | BAL | 9 | 2 | 1–0–1 | 46 | 99 | 46.5 | 755 | 7.6 | 5 | 7 | 42 | 60.0 |
| 1970 | BAL | 14 | 1 | 1−0 | 51 | 93 | 54.8 | 792 | 8.5 | 9 | 4 | 44 | 97.6 |
| 1971 | BAL | 14 | 9 | 7−2 | 84 | 167 | 50.3 | 1,210 | 7.2 | 7 | 12 | 64 | 58.2 |
| 1972 | MIA | 14 | 9 | 9–0 | 83 | 150 | 55.3 | 1,360 | 9.1 | 11 | 7 | 49 | 91.0 |
| 1973 | MIA | 14 | 1 | 0–1 | 17 | 38 | 44.7 | 253 | 6.7 | 0 | 4 | 53 | 27.5 |
| 1974 | MIA | 14 | 1 | 1–0 | 17 | 27 | 63.0 | 301 | 11.1 | 2 | 3 | 46 | 86.1 |
| 1975 | MIA | 13 | 1 | 1–0 | 26 | 43 | 60.5 | 273 | 6.3 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 82.8 |
| 1976 | MIA | 14 | 0 | – | 10 | 26 | 38.5 | 148 | 5.7 | 1 | 1 | 67 | 54.6 |
| Career | 255 | 102 | 63−36–3 | 1,379 | 2,689 | 51.3 | 20,809 | 7.7 | 161 | 148 | 98 | 73.8 | |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Record | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | ||
| 1968 | BAL | 3 | 3 | 2−1 | 30 | 64 | 46.9 | 520 | 8.1 | 2 | 5 | 49 | 52.9 |
| 1970 | BAL | 3 | 0 | − | 7 | 15 | 46.7 | 147 | 9.8 | 0 | 1 | 45 | 54.0 |
| 1971 | BAL | 2 | 0 | Did not play | |||||||||
| 1972 | MIA | 3 | 2 | 2−0 | 13 | 24 | 54.2 | 139 | 5.8 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 67.9 |
| 1973 | MIA | 3 | 0 | Did not play | |||||||||
| 1974 | MIA | 1 | 0 | Did not play | |||||||||
| Career | 15 | 5 | 4−1 | 50 | 103 | 48.5 | 806 | 7.8 | 3 | 7 | 49 | 56.5 | |
Morrall became the quarterback coach at the University of Miami in 1979.[17] During his time there, he worked withJim Kelly,Bernie Kosar,Vinny Testaverde andMark Richt. In 1989, he was elected to theDavie, Florida city council and eventually became mayor.[18] Morrall resigned as mayor to run for theFlorida House of Representatives District 97 seat as aRepublican in 1992 but lost the election.[19][20]
During a 1989 interview, Morrall was asked what it took to come off the bench and be an effective quarterback and team leader. His response was, "When you get the chance to do the job, you have to do the job. That's all there is to it."[6]
He died on April 25, 2014, at his son's home inFort Lauderdale, Florida.[21] He was 79.[20][22] After death, examination of his brain disclosed that he had grade 4 (the most serious stage)chronic traumatic encephalopathy.[23] He is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[24][25]
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| National | |
