Quarterback, Denver
Broncos
Age: 34
13th
season in pro football, 1st with Broncos
College: California
Height: 6’4” Weight: 214
Prelude:
Chosen by the
Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft (he was chosen by the
Raiders in the AFL), Morton saw limited action as backup to Don Meredith for
four seasons before taking over as the starting quarterback in 1969. A classic
dropback passer with a good arm and limited mobility, he threw for 2619 yards
and 21 TDs while averaging a healthy 8.7 yards per attempt in ’69 and in 1970
the Cowboys won the NFC Championship as Morton led the league with 8.8 yards
per attempt. However, he had a rough outing in the Super Bowl loss to the Colts
and then lost the starting job to Roger Staubach during the ’71 season. He
stepped in when Staubach went down with an injury in 1972 but went back to the
bench until he was traded to the New York Giants during the ’74 season. While
expectations were high, the Giants were mediocre and Morton took a beating,
tossing far more interceptions (49) than touchdowns (29) over the course of 34
games, only 8 of which were wins. Following the 1976 season, he was traded to
the up-and-coming Broncos.
1977 Season Summary
Appeared and
started in all 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 254
[16]
Most
attempts, game – 32 vs. Oakland 10/30, at San Diego 11/13
Completions –
131 [17]
Most
completions, game – 19 vs. Oakland 10/30
Yards – 1929
[13]
Most yards,
game – 242 vs. Oakland 10/30
Completion
percentage – 51.6 [16]
Yards per
attempt – 7.6 [2]
TD passes – 14
[9]
Most TD
passes, game – 2 at San Diego 11/13, vs. Baltimore 11/27, at Houston 12/4
Interceptions
– 8
Most
interceptions, game – 2 at Kansas City 11/20
Passer rating
– 82.0 [4]
200-yard
passing games – 1
Rushing
Attempts – 31
Most
attempts, game – 6 (for 15 yds.) vs. St. Louis 9/18
Yards – 125
Most yards,
game – 35 yards (on 5 carries) at Seattle 10/2
Yards per
attempt – 4.0
TDs – 4
Scoring
TDs – 4
Points - 24
Postseason: 3
G
Pass attempts
– 58
Most
attempts, game - 23 vs. Pittsburgh, AFC Divisional playoff
Pass
completions – 25
Most
completions, game - 11 vs. Pittsburgh, AFC Divisional playoff
Passing
yardage – 427
Most yards,
game - 224 vs. Oakland, AFC Championship
TD passes – 4
Most TD
passes, game - 2 vs. Pittsburgh, AFC Divisional playoff; vs. Oakland, AFC
Championship
Interceptions
– 5
Most
interceptions, game – 4 vs. Dallas, Super Bowl
Rushing
attempts – 7
Most rushing
attempts, game – 5 (for 0 yds.) vs. Pittsburgh, AFC Divisional playoff
Rushing yards
– -4
Most rushing
yards, game – 0 vs. Pittsburgh, AFC Divisional playoff
Average gain
rushing – -0.6
Rushing TDs –
0
Awards & Honors:
AFC Player of
the Year: Sporting News
NFL Comeback
Player of the Year: AP
1st
team All-AFC: Sporting News
Broncos went 12-2
to finish first in the AFC West with the conference’s best record, achieving
the first postseason appearance in franchise history. Won AFC Divisional
playoff over Pittsburgh Steelers (34-21) and AFC Championship over Oakland
Raiders (20-17). Lost Super Bowl to Dallas Cowboys (27-10).
Aftermath:
The Broncos
topped the AFC West again in 1978, but Morton had a lesser season and split
time with backups Norris Weese and Craig Penrose. The team had trouble putting
points on the board in ’79, with Morton again seeing most of the action behind
center, and while his passing yards (2626) and touchdowns (16) went up, so did
his interceptions (19). Matt Robinson was obtained from the Jets to challenge
him in 1980, but Morton regained the starting job and, with the arrival of
ex-Dallas teammate Dan Reeves as head coach in ’81, he enjoyed a revival as he
achieved a career-high 3195 passing yards and tied his previous best with 21 TD
passes while averaging 8.5 yards per attempt. But it was a last hurrah as he
finished out his career in the strike-shortened 1982 season. Overall, Morton
passed for 27,908 yards and 183 TDs, with 187 interceptions, over the course of
18 years in the NFL. 11,895 of the yards and 74 TDs came with the Broncos,
where he enjoyed his greatest success and became part of that team’s Ring of
Fame in 1988.
--
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).
