RIP Mercury Morris

Barely born to have seen him.

 

First gained exactly 991 yards that season, as I recall, until a push for further research resulted in the NFL discovering exactly 9 more yards that had not been credited to him.

Loved the Merc, but I never did hear the story of how that went down.
But I'd bet the investigation began with a phone call from Shula to Rozelle.

 

The further story is that they have not been assholes about it.
It was just a friendly thing among themselves until some media jock-sniffers blew it up.

Tim Tebow knows the same feeling after media types blew him up to be Super Jesus, which he never asked prayed for. And I say that as a Not a Tebow Fan clubber.

 

"All I need is 9 more yards ..."

 

It's actually more than I guess we think. Still alive:

Jim Del Gaizo
Bob Griese
Larry Csonka
Ed Jenkins
Howard Twilley
Paul Warfield
Otto Stowe
Marv Fleming
Doug Crusan
Larry Little
Norm Evans
Howard Kindig
Al Jenkins
Vern Den Herder
Manny Fernandez
Bob Heinz
Maulty Moore
Doug Swift
Larry Ball
Curtis Johnson
Dick Anderson
Charlie Babb
Mike Howell
Lloyd Mumphord
Henry Stuckey
Larry Seiple

 

Real good chance, given his clout on the Competition Committee.

Pete ruled with an iron fist, and Pete played favorites.

Exhibit A, his buddy from his PR days with the Los Angeles Rams, Tex Schramm.

The original NFL Anti-Christ.

 

A lot more than I would have anticipated. NFL teams had "taxi squads" in those days, and active rosters of 40 players on game day. Long snappers? Get real. Kick returners? Nah, not really. Substitution patterns? Nope.

(Well, very rare. "Nickel" packages and hands teams for kickoff returns were about it.)

There's a lot of prominent ex-Dolphins on this list ... Griese, Csonk, Larry Little, Fleming, Fernandez, Dick Anderson, Seipel (the punter), Den Herder.

George Allen's WFT was actually a slight favorite in the Supe, on account of Miami's lack of schedule strength. If Jurgensen had played, instead of Billy Kilmer, their chances would have been considerably better.

 

From Wikipedia:

Morris was first thought to have finished with 991 yards but the Dolphins' management asked the league to examine a play in which Morris fumbled a lateral so he was awarded the nine yards previously recorded as lost on the play, giving him 1,000 yards for the season.

And Duane Thomas was Morris's fullback at West Texas State. Thomas was from Dallas. In the mid 60's there was not very film of high school athletes the SWC was not recruiting blacks so you would see some really talented athletes wound up at obscure schools. I an not sure how Morris got from Pittsburgh to wherever West Texas State is.

 

Now West Texas A&M. Located in a little town outside Amarillo.

It’s a Division II school now but was D-I back then. Before it broke up, they were in the Border Conference with Texas Tech, Arizona and ASU among others, but they were independent by the time Morris got there and I’m not sure how rigorous a schedule they played.

 

They're not going 17-0 against the Reaper

 

Tebow may not have asked for it but don't think he isn't basking in it either.