Known for his role in the Dolphins’ perfect 1972 season and being one of that storied team’s lead ambassadors, Mercury Morris died Saturday night. Morris’ son announced his passing Sunday morning.
Born Eugene Morris, the shifty ball-carrier played a lead role in an NFL dynasty. He stepped in as the Dolphins’ lead halfback in a backfield that featured Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka. While Csonka was the engine for those Miami offenses, he and Morris formed a lethal tandem that powered the Dolphins during a run-heavy NFL era.
The Dolphins ventured to three straight Super Bowls from 1971-73. Although Jim Kiick operated as Csonka’s primary complement during the 1971 season, Morris — a 1969 third-round pick out of West Texas A&M — stepped in as Miami’s top HB during the 1972 slate.
In addition to that 17-0 Dolphins season being among the most celebrated in American sports history, Morris teamed with Csonka to become the NFL’s first 1,000-1,000 backfield. The former landed on exactly 1,000 rushing yards in that 14-game campaign, with Csonka finishing with 1,117 to help a Dolphins team that played without starting quarterback Bob Griese for much of that perfect season.
After eclipsing 70 rushing yards in Miami’s two wins during the AFC playoffs, Morris led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns for a 1973 Dolphins team that went 12-2 and beat superior regular-season competition (Oakland, Pittsburgh, Dallas) compared to its unbeaten predecessor.
Morris averaged a career-best 6.4 yards per carry that season and joined Csonka in helping Miami win Super Bowl VIII while attempting just seven passes in a one-sided win over the Vikings.
Miami’s 1974 team played without Morris for all but five games, and the veteran back did not suit up for the team’s loss to the Raiders in a divisional-round classic. Morris, who also returned three kickoffs for touchdowns during his first three NFL seasons, earned three Pro Bowl selections. He played seven seasons with the Dolphins, continuing after Csonka and Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield left for the short-lived World Football League in 1975, but saw his career impacted by a knee injury suffered during the 1974 preseason.
Morris, who finished his career with the Chargers in 1976, accumulated 4,133 career rushing yards in eight seasons. Among running backs, Morris’ 5.1 career yards-per-carry average trails only Marion Motley (5.7), Jamaal Charles (5.4), Nick Chubb (5.3) and Jim Brown (5.2). Among RBs to play past the 1970 merger, Morris ranks third in YPC.
Sentenced to 20 years in prison for cocaine trafficking in 1982, Morris served three-and-a-half years after the Florida Supreme Court overturned his conviction. The Pittsburgh native would regularly tout the Dolphins’ perfect season, which annually involves the surviving team members toasting after the NFL’s final unbeaten goes down.
