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| No. 56, 31, 33, 55 | |||||||||
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| Positions | Linebacker Fullback Halfback | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1933-12-10)December 10, 1933 Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | December 19, 2012(2012-12-19) (aged 79) Austell, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 226 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Decatur(Decatur, Georgia) | ||||||||
| College | Georgia Tech | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1955: 1st round, 7th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Larry Cleo Morris (December 10, 1933 – December 19, 2012) was an American professionalfootball player who was alinebacker in theNational Football League (NFL), primarily with theChicago Bears. The 1950 graduate ofDecatur High School became anAll-American playingcollege football for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets before his NFL career. "The Brahma Bull" was named one of the linebackers on theNFL 1960s All-Decade Team.
Morris was a four-year starter and a two-way player at center and linebacker positions for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Morris was also selected as three times first-team All-SEC and a team captain as a senior. He played during coachBobby Dodd's most successful seasons at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had a 40-5-2 record over Morris’ four seasons, won two SEC titles, four bowl games and a share of the 1952 national championship with a 12–0 record. In his final game as a Yellow Jacket against rivalGeorgia inAthens on November 27, 1954, he played the entire game and was credited with 24 tackles as his team won 7–3. He was later named to the All-SEC 25-year team spanning 1950–1974 and in 1992 was inducted into theCollege Football Hall of Fame, one of 12 Tech players there.[1][2]
Morris was the seventh overall pick of the 1955 NFL draft. He was named one of the linebackers on theNFL 1960s All-Decade Team. Morris played 12 seasons total with theLos Angeles Rams,Chicago Bears, andAtlanta Falcons. He was the MVP of the1963 NFL Championship Game for the Bears. In addition, he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons' first-team in 1966.[3]
Morris was indicted and received probation during theSavings and loan crisis. As a licensed Atlanta real estate agent, two top corporate executives of First Mutual Savings in Pensacola, Florida, took illegal kickbacks causing his condos and rehabs loans to go bad.[4][5]
Morris was featured in an article inThe Sporting News about former football players who had head injuries that happened during their career. According to the article, Morris had little, if any, recollection of his playing days.[6][7]
Larry Cleo Morris died on December 19, 2012. A native Atlantan, he spent his last few years, since 2009, under nursing home care, at Presbyterian Village, in the city ofAustell, Georgia.[8] His brain was donated by his family to Boston University for the study ofbrain injuries associated with former professional football players.
An autopsy confirmed that Morris had the neural degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[9] He is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[10][11]