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Mercury Morris
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Eugene "Mercury" Morris (born January 5, 1947) is a former American football player who played running back in the American Football League in the 1960s and the NFL in the 1970s. He played in three Super Bowls. Morris was selected for three Pro Bowls over his nine-year professional career.
Amateur career
Morris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Avonworth High School in Pittsburgh. Morris attended West Texas State University (now known as West Texas A&M University) from 1965 to 1969, where he was an All-American at tailback in 1967 and 1968.
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Encyclopedia
Eugene "Mercury" Morris (born January 5, 1947) is a former American football player who played running back in the American Football League in the 1960s and the NFL in the 1970s. He played in three Super Bowls. Morris was selected for three Pro Bowls over his nine-year professional career.
Amateur career
Morris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Avonworth High School in Pittsburgh. Morris attended West Texas State University (now known as West Texas A&M University) from 1965 to 1969, where he was an All-American at tailback in 1967 and 1968. In 1967 he finished 2nd in the nation to O.J. Simpson in rushing yards with 1274. In 1968 he set collegiate records for rushing yards in a single game, with 340, and rushing yards over a 3 year career with 3388. The latter record was broken 2 years later by Don McCauley. In 1968 he also set a record for rushing yards in a single season with 1571, but O.J. Simpson broke that record that same season the week after Morris set it.
After college, he was picked in the third round of the 1969 AFL-NFL Common Draft by the AFL's Miami Dolphins.
Pro Football career
Early career
Morris excelled as both a running back and kick returner. The majority of his playing days were spent with the Miami Dolphins. From 1969 to 1971 he backed up Jim Kiick at halfback and served as the Dolphins' primary kickoff return man. In his rookie year of 1969, Morris had averaged 26.4 yards per kickoff return the AFL in kickoff returns with 43 and in kickoff return yardage with 1136. Both totals would have also led th NFL. His 105 yard return was the longest in the AFL that season, and he was also one of the AFL's leading punt returners that year. In 1970 he missed some time to a leg injury, but his 6.8 yard per carry average on 60 runs was the highest in the league among players with at least 50 runs.
Super Bowl years
In 1971, despite being unhappy with his playing time as a backup halfback, he helped the Dolphins to Super Bowl VI which they lost to a strong Dallas team, by leading the American Football Conference(AFC) with a 28.2 yard kickoff return average. He also made the most of his opportunities as a running back, gaining 315 rushing yards on 57 carries for a 5.5 yard average, an average that would have led the NFL had he had enough carries to qualify. That season, Morris was selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time as a kick returner, although he also was used as a running back during the game.
In the 1972 and 1973 seasons Morris earned Super Bowl rings in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII, and was selected for the Pro Bowl in both years. In 1972 Morris shared the halfback spot with Kiick, playing a few less plays than Kiick, but having more carries as a running back. That year he ran for exactly 1,000 yds on 190 carries, becoming, with teammate Larry Csonka, the first 1,000-yard tandem in NFL history. Morris was first thought to have finished with 991 yards, but the Dolphins asked the league to examine a play in which Morris fumbled a lateral. Morris was awarded the nine yards previously scored as lost on the play, giving him 1,000 yards for the season. That year Morris also led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns, and his 5.3 yard per carry average was 3rd in the NFL.
In 1973 took over the starting halfback spot and rushed for 954 yards on 149 carries, despite playing with a neck injury late in the season. His 6.4 yard per carry average led the NFL that season, and he finished 3rd in the NFL in rushing touchdowns.
Although Morris' Super Bowl statistics pale in comparison with teammate Larry Csonka, he excelled in several playoff games leading up to Miami's two Super Bowl championships. In 1972 he lead the Dolphins in rushing in both the divisional payoff game against Cleveland and the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh with 72 yards and 76 yards respectively. In 1973 he led the Dolphins in rushing in the divisional playoff game against Cincinnati with 106 yards, and added 86 more rushing yards in the AFC Championship Game against Oakland.
Late career
Morris played the 1974 and 1975 seasons with the Dolphins, and he spent the last season of his career playing for the San Diego Chargers on 1976. In 1974 he was limited to playing just 5 games due to a knee injury suffered in an exhibition game. In 1975 he led the Dolphins in rushing yards with 875 despite sharing the halfback position with Benny Malone. After being traded to San Diego before the 1976 season, he ran for 256 yards on only 50 carries that year and decided to retire after the season, in part due to lingering difficulties from the neck injury suffered in 1973.
He finished in the top five of the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice and total touchdowns once during his nine-year career. His career 5.1 yard per carry average is 3rd all time among NFL players (2nd among running backs) with at least 750 rushing attempts, behind quarterback Randall Cunningham and fullback Jim Brown. And his career kickoff return average of 26.5 is among the top 10 all time among players with at least 100 returns.
Non-Football activities
In 1974, Morris co-starred as Bookie Garrett in the blaxploitation film The Black Six alongside other football stars of the day.
In 1982, Morris was convicted of cocaine trafficking. He was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment with a mandatory fifteen-year term. On March 6, 1986, his conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because evidence Morris had offered to prove his entrapment defense had been excluded under a mistaken characterization as hearsay. Morris was granted a new trial. He was able to reach a plea bargain with the prosecutor, resulting in his release from prison May 23, 1986, after having served three years. He later went on to a career as a motivational speaker. Towards the end of 2006, his name has come up in a commercial spot for a hair-treatment clinic, along with Wade Boggs.
Opinions regarding the 2007 New England Patriots
Throughout the 2007 NFL season, Morris has noted on several occasions for publicly criticizing how the New England Patriots' potential undefeated season is viewed and perceived among the media, particularly ESPN, in relation to the Miami Dolphins' undefeated 1972 season.
On November 15, 2007, an interview with Morris was aired on ESPN where he was quoted as saying:
- They're comparing them to a 17-0 team? If they're 17-0. But I think they're like ten games short right now, right? They got ten more icebergs to go through in this Titanic trip that they're talking about, and so far, nobody's made it across there except us. So we're [docked over] here waiting on you.
Morris continued:
- I'm telling you, I respect the Patriots if they do that, but right now, they haven't done that. So come to me, like I said, don't call me when you're in my town, call me when you're on my block, and I see you next door moving your furniture in. That's when I'll know you're going to the championship and you're about to play. And if you win it, I'll be dressed up in a tuxedo waiting on my bride.
On December 3, 2007, Morris appeared on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown along with former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese. On the prospect of the Patriots becoming the second undefeated team in NFL history, Morris said: "Don't go up there and now because you're two inches taller (referring to the two extra wins the Patriots would need to go undefeated in relation to the 1972 Dolphins)...and say 'oh, now we're up here.' No, you can be parked right beside us like Daytona, outside pole, otherwise known as number two." And other quotes, such as: "When they win the Super Bowl, we can be like Mr. Rogers and welcome them to the neighborhood, but they still have to win four more games."
On December 5, 2007, Morris appeared on ESPN's Sportscenter and performed a rap about the 1972 Dolphins being the only team that has ever gone undefeated in an NFL season. Morris was on ESPN with Josh Elliott to discuss the New England Patriots' 12–0 record which, at the time, was five games short of matching the 1972 Dolphins' 17–0 combined regular season and post-season record. In this appearance, Morris criticized the manner in which the Patriots try to "bury everybody every week 'cause [they] can do it." Morris also vehemently repeated his argument of December 3 that even if the Patriots finish with a combined 19–0 record, two wins better than the Dolphins' 17–0 record, that not only should the Patriots' season not be considered better than the 1972 Dolphins' season, but also hinted at the idea that the Dolphins season should actually still be held in higher regard.
He also appeared more welcoming to the idea of the New England Patriots joining his Miami Dolphins as the only teams to complete a perfect NFL season, noting that for the first time, his Miami Dolphins would have someone to compare themselves to. Morris also starred alongside several of his '72 Dolphins in a Reebok ad entitled "Perfectville", inspired by his statements earlier in the year. http://www.rbk.com/us/perfectville/
After the Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XLII, Mercury Morris said in an ESPN phone interview: "When this kid scored, a tear came to my eye because I'm emotional. You guys know you never see me like this. I'm very humbled at what the Giants were able to do as underdogs, realizing that on any given Sunday anyone can beat anyone else -- except in 1972."
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