Quarterback, Miami
Dolphins
Age: 38
17th
season in pro football, 1st with Dolphins
College: Michigan State
Height: 6’1” Weight: 206
Prelude:
After leading
Michigan State to a win in the Rose Bowl, Morrall was taken in the first round
of the 1956 NFL draft by the San Francisco 49ers. Following a mediocre rookie
season in which he backed up Y.A. Tittle, he was dealt to Pittsburgh where he
became the starter and had a fair year in ’57. Two games into 1958, he was
traded to Detroit in the deal that brought Bobby Layne to the Steelers and for
the next seven years he shared the job with, first, Jim Ninowski and then Milt
Plum. His best season with the Lions was in 1963, when he passed for 2621 yards
and 24 TDs. But when new Head Coach Harry Gilmer committed to Plum for ’65,
Morrall was dealt to the New York Giants. He started in 1965 and had a good
year for a 7-7 team, but missed half of ’66 due to injury and was on the bench
behind Fran Tarkenton in 1967. Frustrated at once again being a backup, he was
traded to the Colts during the 1968 preseason to provide insurance as number
two to Johnny Unitas. When Unitas suffered a major arm injury, Morrall took
over as the starting quarterback and had a MVP season, most notably leading the
NFL in passing, TD passes (26), and yards per attempt (9.2). The Colts went
13-1 and won the league title, although the dream year came to a sour end in an
upset loss to the AFL Champion Jets in the Super Bowl. Morrall returned to a
backup role with Unitas reclaiming the starting job in 1969 and helped rally
the Colts in relief in the Super Bowl win over the Cowboys following the ’70
season. He saw considerable action in place of the increasingly-brittle Unitas
in 1971, but with the team undergoing a youth movement in ’72 he was traded
once more, this time to the Miami Dolphins where he was reunited with his first
coach in Baltimore, Don Shula. A broken ankle suffered by starting QB Bob
Griese in Week 5 put Morrall in the starting lineup.
1972 Season Summary
Appeared in all
14 games
[Bracketed numbers
indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 150
Most
attempts, game – 19 vs. St. Louis 11/27
Completions –
83
Most
completions, game – 12 vs. St. Louis 11/27
Yards – 1360
Most yards,
game – 210 vs. St. Louis 11/27
Completion
percentage – 55.3 [8]
Yards per
attempt – 9.1 [1]
TD passes – 11
[18, tied with Marty Domres]
Most TD
passes, game – 2 vs. San Diego 10/15, vs. St. Louis 11/27, at New England 12/3
Interceptions
– 7
Most
interceptions, game – 1 on seven occasions
Passer rating
– 91.0 [1]
200-yard
passing games – 2
Rushing
Attempts – 17
Most
attempts, game – 4 (for 7 yds.) vs. Buffalo 10/22
Yards – 67
Most yards,
game – 29 yards (on 3 carries) vs. NY Jets 11/19
Yards per
attempt – 3.9
TDs – 1
Scoring
TDs – 1
Points - 6
Postseason: 2
G
Pass attempts
– 24
Most
attempts, game - 13 vs. Cleveland, AFC Divisional playoff
Pass
completions – 13
Most
completions, game - 7 at Pittsburgh, AFC Championship
Passing
yardage – 139
Most yards,
game - 88 vs. Cleveland, AFC Divisional playoff
TD passes – 1
Interceptions
– 1
Rushing
attempts – 4
Most rushing
attempts, game - 4 vs. Cleveland, AFC Divisional playoff
Rushing yards
– 3
Most rushing
yards, game - 3 vs. Cleveland, AFC Divisional playoff
Average gain
rushing – 0.8
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
AFC Player of
the Year: Sporting News
NFL Comeback
Player of the Year: AP
1st
team All-NFL: AP
2nd
team All-NFL: NEA
1st
team All-AFC: AP
Dolphins went
14-0 to finish first in the AFC East as they led the NFL in total yards (5036),
rushing yards (2960), scoring (385 points), and touchdowns (45, tied with the
Oakland Raiders). Won AFC Divisional playoff over Cleveland Browns (20-14), AFC
Championship over Pittsburgh Steelers (21-17), and Super Bowl over Washington
Redskins (14-7).
Aftermath:
Morrall gave
way to Griese in the playoffs in 1972 and stayed on another four years as a
backup, finally retiring following the 1976 season at age 42 and after 21
seasons in the NFL. Often regarded as the greatest backup quarterback in league
history, he twice was selected to the Pro Bowl and ended up passing for 20,809
yards and 161 TDs.
--
MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or
Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or
USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football
Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press
International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league
itself).
RIP Earl Morrall, possibly the greatest backup QB of all time. Trouble was, he could put up sterling figures in the regular season but tended to falter in the playoffs, particularly when he melted down in Super Bowl III. He did manage to win the Colts a championship two years later when he replaced an over-the-hill and ailing Johnny Unitas in The Blunder Bowl, but that was mostly because Dallas made the final mistake in the game (a Craig Morton interception) and all Morrall had left to do was hold for the winning field goal. An interesting study for quarterbacks who aren't good enough to start and carry their teams all the way to a championship, but indispensable in a relief pitching role when the starter is out for a length of time.
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