Long-time Indianapolis Colts fans should already know who I’m talking about. For those born in this century, it’s time to crack open the history books and head east to Baltimore.
He played 21 seasons in the NFL, yet only won the starting role in six of them. Those things tend to happen when you play behind not one, not two, not even three, but four freaking Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Unbelievably, he was traded for a fifth Hall of Famer as well. He was trapped on some bad teams and played behind a couple of guys who, frankly, had no business starting ahead of him.
It's true that he only played four seasons for the guys with the horseshoe on their helmets. Yet he had an outsized impact on the fortunes of the team. In his very first season in Baltimore, he stepped in for the starting quarterback and led the Colts to the title game.
The amazing thing is, he did it again with another team four years later. Okay, if you don't know who I'm talking about by now, you need to hit the books. Or YouTube, whatever.
Earl Morrall was an indispensable member of the Indianapolis Colts
I know most of you on the Blue Crew had this by the third sentence. Younger fans, those not as chronologically advantaged as I am, have probably never heard of Morrall. As I mentioned earlier, he only got the majority of his teams' starts in six seasons of his twenty-one-year career.
And three of those were only due to injuries to the starting quarterback. He wasn't the greatest Colts QB ever. That's a debate for another time, although this guy has a good case.
Let's jump in the wayback machine, shall we? Morral was drafted in 1956; that's so long ago, it's even before I arrived on the planet. Barely, but still ancient history. How ancient, you ask? Well, the NFL only had 12 teams, the Cardinals were still in Chicago, and there were 30 (yes, thirty) rounds in the draft.
The more math-inclined of you have figured out that means 360 players were drafted every season. Talk about Mr. Irrelevant; yikes.
Anyway, the San Francisco 49ers made Morrall the second overall pick of the draft. As you're dying to know, Gary Glick was drafted ahead of him. The Colts nabbed a Hall of Famer with the eighth pick. You get a fabulous bonus no-prize if you know who that was.
As for Earl, he lasted one season with the Niners. They already had HOF quarterback Y.A. Tittle in mid-career. Why they drafted another QB is a bit mystifying.
Regardless, Morrall was shipped to Pittsburgh the very next season for two first-round picks. Makes sense to me. He started 11 games in his first season with the Steelers and earned the first of his two Pro Bowl nods.
So, of course, Pittsburgh traded him in 1958 to Detroit for Hall of Fame QB Bobby Layne. This continued the pattern that would dog him throughout his career. "Earl, you're great, but we like this guy better." Unfortunately, it was usually true.
Morrall sat on the bench for Detroit behind titans of the gridiron like Tobin Rote, Jim Ninowski, and Milt Plum. At least Plum was decent, but Morrall was demonstrably better. The Lions traded Morrall to the Giants after a shoulder injury ended his season in 1964.
He started all 214 games in 1965, but broke his wrist 6 games into the following season. He rode the pine again behind the second Hall of Famer he'd cross paths with, Fran Tarkenton, in 1967.
New York saw fit to trade him to his fifth team before the 1968 season. If your eyes were glazing over, it's time to wake up, because Morrall was now with the Colts.
As you more astute fans know, Baltimore made the deal because Colts legend Johnny Unitas was lost for the season in the final preseason game. Morrall was the new starter, but he knew he'd eventually be backing up his third HOF signal caller.
Morrall went off and had his best season ever at the age of 34. He set career highs in passing yards and touchdowns. He led the NFL in TDs and average yards per catch, while leading the Colts to a 13-1 record and two playoff wins, including a 34-0 shutout over the Browns to put his team in the Super Bowl.
The less said about that game and Broadway Joe's guarantee, the better. But it earned Morrall his second Pro Bowl appearance, plus his first All-Pro nod and the league's MVP award. Not bad for a career backup.
Then it was back to the bench for the league MVP, as Johnny U started 25 games over the next two seasons. While Morrall rode the pine again, he did step in for an injured Unitas in Super Bowl V and led the Colts to the win over the vaunted Cowboys defense. Miind you, he had one start that season and didn't take a snap in either playoff win before that. And he never pulled himself out of a game, either.
By 1971, Unitas's elbow was a wreck, and Morrall started the first nine games of the season. Unitas eventually took over. The following year, the Colts decided Morrall was expendable. So once again, it was time to load up the truck and head to a new home. This time, he landed in Miami.
Here's where things get a bit weird. Or weirder. The Dolphins' head coach, Don Shula, had been the Colts coach from 1963 through 1969. So if anyone in the league appreciated what Morrall could do when pressed into duty, it was Shula.
When he took over Miami in 1970, the franchise had never more than 5 games, and were entering their fifth season overall. Shula immediately turned them around, and when Morrall became available, his former coach wasted no time signing him.
Unlike the '68 season, Morrall wasn't signed for an immediate need. Bob Griese (the fourth Hall of Famer he followed) was coming off his best season so far. He had made his fourth Pro Bowl and was named an All-Pro for the first time. But when he went down with a broken arm in Week 5, you know who was ready to step in behind center.
Miami was off to a 5-0 start. So all Morrall did was go 9-0 to finish their perfect regular season. He even outplayed what Griese had done to that point. Our hero then led Miami to two playoff wins, until Griese stepped in later in the conference championship game and completed their run to the perfect season with a win in the Super Bowl. That would never have happened without Morrall.
The career backup played four more seasons in Miami, getting three starts. He finally hung up his cleats after the 1976 season, with three Super Bowl rings, another NFL championship, and a league MVP award. He was 63-36-3 as a starter and played in 255 games.
That's a .633 winning percentage, crew. Football is the ultimate team sport, but his percentage is higher than that of Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Dan Marino, and just .004 below Aaron Rodgers. Not too shabby for a career backup.