Craig Morton
Encyclopedia
Larry Craig Morton is a former professional football
player. He played quarterback
in the National Football League
for 18 seasons, 1965
-82
. Morton played for the Dallas Cowboys
, New York Giants
, and the Denver Broncos
; he played college football
at the University of California
.
Morton was the first quarterback in NFL history to start the Super Bowl
for two different teams (Dallas in Super Bowl V and Denver in Super Bowl XII), a feat that has only been equaled by Kurt Warner
.
Following his playing career, Morton served as head coach
of the USFL's
Denver Gold
.
Morton was a downfield passer not known for his mobility, and is one of the all time leaders in yards per completion. He also briefly held the record for the most passes completed in a row.
Morton's best statistical season came in his 17th season (1981) when he threw for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns, compiling an excellent 90.5 passer rating
. Craig was selected All-AFC after the 1977 season by The Sporting News.
In his senior season (1964), Morton was awarded the 1960 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy
as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast and was an All-America
n at Cal. He was drafted
by Dallas in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft
. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1992. Morton is a notable graduate of Campbell High School in Campbell
, California
.
Morton is currently a voter in the Harris Interactive College Poll, a component of college football's Bowl Championship Series
. He was inducted into the Denver Broncos
Ring of Fame in 1988.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player. He played quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for 18 seasons, 1965
1965 NFL season
The 1965 NFL season was the 46th regular season of the National Football League.Because the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts ended up tied in the Western Conference standings after the regular season ended, a conference playoff game was held in Green Bay. Although the Packers had defeated the...
-82
1982 NFL season
The 1982 NFL season was the 63rd regular season of the National Football League. A 57-day long players' strike reduced the 1982 season from a 16-game schedule per team to an abbreviated nine game schedule...
. Morton played for the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, and the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
; he played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of California
California Golden Bears football
The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...
.
Morton was the first quarterback in NFL history to start the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
for two different teams (Dallas in Super Bowl V and Denver in Super Bowl XII), a feat that has only been equaled by Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner is a retired American football player. He played quarterback for three National Football League teams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing...
.
Following his playing career, Morton served as head coach
Head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...
of the USFL's
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
Denver Gold
Denver Gold
The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985...
.
Morton was a downfield passer not known for his mobility, and is one of the all time leaders in yards per completion. He also briefly held the record for the most passes completed in a row.
Morton's best statistical season came in his 17th season (1981) when he threw for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns, compiling an excellent 90.5 passer rating
Passer rating
Passer rating is a measure of the performance of quarterbacks or any other passers in American football and Canadian football. There are at least two formulae currently in use: one officially used by the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, and one used in college football...
. Craig was selected All-AFC after the 1977 season by The Sporting News.
In his senior season (1964), Morton was awarded the 1960 W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy
W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy
The W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy was awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation from 1951 to 1978 to the outstanding college football player on the Pacific Coast. The recipient was determined based on votes cast by West Coast football writers and later broadcasters as well. Award recipients include...
as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast and was an All-America
1964 College Football All-America Team
The 1964 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers...
n at Cal. He was drafted
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
by Dallas in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft
1965 NFL Draft
The 1965 National Football League Draft took place on November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the failure of the St...
. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1992. Morton is a notable graduate of Campbell High School in Campbell
Campbell, California
Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, a suburb of San Jose, and part of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 39,349...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Morton is currently a voter in the Harris Interactive College Poll, a component of college football's Bowl Championship Series
Bowl Championship Series
The Bowl Championship Series is a selection system that creates five bowl match-ups involving ten of the top ranked teams in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , including an opportunity for the top two to compete in the BCS National Championship Game.The BCS relies on a combination of...
. He was inducted into the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
Ring of Fame in 1988.
- Although Roger StaubachRoger StaubachRoger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
replaced Morton for the Dallas CowboysDallas CowboysThe Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
in 19731973 NFL seasonThe 1973 NFL season was the 54th regular season of the National Football League. The season featured O.J. Simpson becoming the first man to rush for 2,000 yards in one season...
and would go on to great success, Morton played seven more NFL seasons than Staubach. The Cowboy teammates graduated college the same year, but Staubach began his NFL career four years later due to his active service in the U.S. NavyUnited States NavyThe United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
, and he chose to retire after the 19791979 NFL seasonThe 1979 NFL season was the 60th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XIV when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams...
season, while Morton played for three more seasons. - Morton wore number 7 for the Broncos, and retired just before the arrival of John ElwayJohn ElwayJohn Albert Elway, Jr. is a former American football quarterback and currently is the executive vice president of football operations for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League . He played college football at Stanford and his entire professional career with the Denver Broncos...
in 19831983 NFL seasonThe 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.-Major rule changes:...
, who, of course, wore the same number and has had it since retired in his honor. Both players are honored in the Broncos Ring of Fame with number 7 next to both player's names. - In 2008, Morton co-authored a book (with Denver Post writer Adrian Dater) entitled "Then Morton Said to Elway..." - The Best Denver Broncos Stories Ever Told. The book was published by Triumph Books.
Regular season
| Year | | Team | | Passing | | Rushing | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Comp | Yds | TD | Int | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 1965 | DAL | 34 | 17 | 173 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -8 | -2.67 | 0 |
| 1966 | DAL | 27 | 13 | 225 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 50 | 7.14 | 0 |
| 1967 | DAL | 137 | 69 | 978 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 42 | 2.8 | 0 |
| 1968 | DAL | 85 | 44 | 752 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 28 | 7 | 2 |
| 1969 | DAL | 302 | 162 | 2619 | 21 | 15 | 16 | 62 | 3.88 | 1 |
| 1970 | DAL | 207 | 102 | 1819 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 37 | 2.31 | 0 |
| 1971 | DAL | 143 | 78 | 1131 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 9 | 2.25 | 1 |
| 1972 | DAL | 339 | 185 | 2396 | 15 | 21 | 8 | 26 | 3.25 | 2 |
| 1973 | DAL | 32 | 13 | 174 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1974 | DAL | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1974 | NYG | 237 | 122 | 1510 | 9 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 1.25 | 0 |
| 1975 | NYG | 363 | 186 | 2359 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 72 | 3.27 | 0 |
| 1976 | NYG | 284 | 153 | 1865 | 9 | 20 | 15 | 48 | 3.2 | 0 |
| 1977 | DEN | 254 | 131 | 1929 | 14 | 8 | 31 | 125 | 4.03 | 4 |
| 1978 | DEN | 267 | 146 | 1802 | 11 | 8 | 17 | 71 | 4.18 | 0 |
| 1979 | DEN | 370 | 204 | 2626 | 16 | 19 | 23 | 13 | 0.57 | 1 |
| 1980 | DEN | 301 | 183 | 2150 | 12 | 13 | 21 | 29 | 1.38 | 1 |
| 1981 | DEN | 376 | 225 | 3195 | 21 | 14 | 8 | 18 | 2.25 | 0 |
| 1982 | DEN | 26 | 18 | 193 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 3786 | 2053 | 27908 | 183 | 187 | 215 | 627 | 2.92 | 12 | |
Playoffs
| Year | Team | Opp | Result | Comp | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Rusing Att | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Dallas | Cleveland | L, 14-38 | 8 | 24 | 95 | 0 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1970 | Dallas | Detroit | W, 5-0 | 4 | 18 | 38 | 0 | 1 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1970 | Dallas | San Francisco | W, 17-10 | 7 | 22 | 101 | 1 | 0 | -- | -- | -- |
| *1970 | Dallas | Baltimore | L, 13-16 | 12 | 26 | 127 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 1972 | Dallas | San Francisco | W, 30-28 | 8 | 21 | 96 | 1 | 2 | -- | -- | -- |
| 1972 | Dallas | Washington | L, 3-26 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 1977 | Denver | Pittsburgh | W, 34-21 | 11 | 23 | 164 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | Denver | Oakland | W, 20-17 | 10 | 20 | 224 | 2 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 0 |
| *1977 | Denver | Dallas | L, 10-27 | 4 | 15 | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1978 | Denver | Pittsburgh | L, 10-33 | 3 | 5 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979 | Denver | Houston | L, 7-13 | 14 | 27 | 144 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |