Well Before Nick Foles, Earl Morrall Was The Nfl’s Greatest Substitute Quarterback | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

Well Before Nick Foles, Earl Morrall Was The Nfl’s Greatest Substitute Quarterback

DKphin

DKphin

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I miss the days when we had Strock and Morrall as back-ups:up:

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Earl Morrall was a square peg in a round hole — almost literally.

Though the longtime NFL quarterback proudly wore a crewcut throughout the league’s hirsute “Broadway Joe” era — long after even Johnny Unitas had relented — he designed and lived in a circular, futuristic house that resembled a spacecraft.

“It was supposedly hurricane-proof, and he liked the idea of doing something different,” said his son, Matt, 61, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., attorney. “He was always willing to do things that were unconventional or contrary to his personal appearance.”

That wasn’t the only contradiction in a notable life that ended when, suffering from severe symptoms of brain degeneration, Morrall, 79, died in 2014.

http://www.philly.com/eagles/earl-m...s-bob-griese-backup-quarterback-20190110.html
 
He should be in the HOF. He won a SB (led Colts back to win over Dallas after Unitas got hurt), was a key reason we went undefeated (led NFL in passing) and was on 5 SB teams. I believe led the NFL in passing 2x. He wasn’t just a backup and Foles isn’t even in same class. Morrall was great. Check out his numbers on wiki etc. Not enough respect for him.
 
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I met him in Miami one time at lunch in a Burger King!

Big dude! Still had his butch haircut and black coal eyebrows!

Rather imposing in a way though he was as nice as could be.

Zero pretension. Just a normal guy at a burger joint!

Just a top to bottom solid football player.
 
We used to watch games at his bar at the golf course in Davie. Nick Foles is a good comparison, however I believe Earl was a MVP for the colts before he even got here. He was a bad ass

Yes in was right 69 nfl mvp RIP Earl
 
buttonwood said:
We used to watch games at his bar at the golf course in Davie. Nick Foles is a good comparison, however I believe Earl was a MVP for the colts before he even got here. He was a bad ***

Yes in was right 69 nfl mvp RIP Earl
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Yep. Led that team to 13-1 and to the SB in ‘69.
 
Strange career because he had some awesome seasons when trusted with the full time job, but teams were always trying to replace him so those big seasons were scattered well apart.

Nick Foles is a great comparison in that regard.

I suspect the same types calling Foles a system quarterback would have bar stooled the same regarding Morrall. In fact, I remember some of that, particularly after the '68 season.

Morrall managed a phenomenal 9.2 YPA during '68, and nearly matched it with 9.1 in 1972 with the Dolphins. However, the '68 version was far more impressive because that was a more balanced team. Morrall threw twice as often in '68 as in '72.

The Jets' victory in that Super Bowl really was astonishing, given how dominant the Colts and Morrall had been all season. Obviously nobody here wants to give any credit to the Jets, or acknowledge how beloved they were in the Miami area after that victory. I remember the following year in school there were more Jets fans in my elementary school than Dolphins fans. This was in suburban Miami. The Dolphins were terrible during George Wilson's final season so many families and their kids switched loyalty to the Jets, who had made us all feel immensely proud and vindicated as AFL loyalists.

As mentioned I attended that Jets/Colts Super Bowl and sat in the lower deck of the west end zone with my mom, dad and sister. By far my lingering mental image of that game was late in the second quarter when the Colts ran a flea flicker from near midfield and Jimmy Orr was running smack toward us down the left sideline. He was wide open. I mean nobody in the zip code open. We all gasped, as Jets rooters. Here was a certain touchdown that could totally change the game.

Orr was frantically waving his arms. I have seen videos of that but it is even more crystal from memory. But somehow Earl Morrall never looked his way. Instead he fired over the middle. That looked dangerous also but at the last second the great Jets safety Randy Beverly cut in front and picked it off smack near the goal line. Our entire area erupted in joy and relief. BTW, Beverly was a smart and resourceful Jake Scott type, always with a nose for the ball and the type of player the Dolphins need to start pursuing in this era.

I'm still in dismay it happened that way. Morrall supposedly never got over it. I saw an article from not many years before his death in which he said that play still haunted him. Morrall gets credit for 1972 but he was the NFL superstar in 1968 and that Baltimore team would have gone down in history as one of the best ever with a victory over the Jets.

Not long after the game we learned that Jimmy Orr was supposed to be the primary receiver. That made it even more baffling.
 
Awsi Dooger said:
Strange career because he had some awesome seasons when trusted with the full time job, but teams were always trying to replace him so those big seasons were scattered well apart.

Nick Foles is a great comparison in that regard.

I suspect the same types calling Foles a system quarterback would have bar stooled the same regarding Morrall. In fact, I remember some of that, particularly after the '68 season.

Morrall managed a phenomenal 9.2 YPA during '68, and nearly matched it with 9.1 in 1972 with the Dolphins. However, the '68 version was far more impressive because that was a more balanced team. Morrall threw twice as often in '68 as in '72.

The Jets' victory in that Super Bowl really was astonishing, given how dominant the Colts and Morrall had been all season. Obviously nobody here wants to give any credit to the Jets, or acknowledge how beloved they were in the Miami area after that victory. I remember the following year in school there were more Jets fans in my elementary school than Dolphins fans. This was in suburban Miami. The Dolphins were terrible during George Wilson's final season so many families and their kids switched loyalty to the Jets, who had made us all feel immensely proud and vindicated as AFL loyalists.

As mentioned I attended that Jets/Colts Super Bowl and sat in the lower deck of the west end zone with my mom, dad and sister. By far my lingering mental image of that game was late in the second quarter when the Colts ran a flea flicker from near midfield and Jimmy Orr was running smack toward us down the left sideline. He was wide open. I mean nobody in the zip code open. We all gasped, as Jets rooters. Here was a certain touchdown that could totally change the game.

Orr was frantically waving his arms. I have seen videos of that but it is even more crystal from memory. But somehow Earl Morrall never looked his way. Instead he fired over the middle. That looked dangerous also but at the last second the great Jets safety Randy Beverly cut in front and picked it off smack near the goal line. Our entire area erupted in joy and relief. BTW, Beverly was a smart and resourceful Jake Scott type, always with a nose for the ball and the type of player the Dolphins need to start pursuing in this era.

I'm still in dismay it happened that way. Morrall supposedly never got over it. I saw an article from not many years before his death in which he said that play still haunted him. Morrall gets credit for 1972 but he was the NFL superstar in 1968 and that Baltimore team would have gone down in history as one of the best ever with a victory over the Jets.

Not long after the game we learned that Jimmy Orr was supposed to be the primary receiver. That made it even more baffling.
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Great story and a little before my time. My father in law is a die hard Jets fan and swears that the Jets were way better that year than anyone gave them credit for and that it wasn’t the upset that everyone thought. He claims he bet the Jets w no points he was so confident ha. In any event I’ve seen the Orr play and it looked odd. Perhaps the Jets got in their heads as the Colts expected to roll them as the Packers had done to their opponents in the prior to 2 SBs. I still say Morrall put up a HOF career especially for that era and he did get some redemption bringing the Colts back in SB 5 to beat Dallas after Unitas went out injured w the Colts trailing. Very underrated by history for whatever reason.
 
Awsi Dooger said:
As mentioned I attended that Jets/Colts Super Bowl and sat in the lower deck of the west end zone with my mom, dad and sister. By far my lingering mental image of that game was late in the second quarter when the Colts ran a flea flicker from near midfield and... Orr was frantically waving his arms.
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Dude, great stuff!

Funny thing is on the tape it really looks like Earl looked Jimmy's way and then chucked the pig for int.

If I recall correctly -- one of the great "names" in football played for the Jets then -- Emerson Boozer!

He was pretty tuff!

**thanks**
 
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