Mercury Morris: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:American Conference Pro Bowl players]] |
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[[Category:American motivational speakers]] |
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Revision as of 01:37, 24 April 2008
| No. 22 | |
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| Position: | Running back |
| Career information | |
| College: | West Texas A&M |
| NFL draft: | 1969 / round: 3 / pick: 63 |
| Career history | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Eugene "Mercury" Morris (born January 5, 1947) is a former American football player who played running back in the American Football League in the 1960s and the NFL in the 1970s. He played in three Super Bowls.
Morris was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He attended Avonworth High School in Pittsburgh. Morris attended West Texas A&M University from 1965 to 1969, where he was an All-American at tailback in 1967 and 1968. After college, he was picked in the third round of the 1969 AFL-NFL Common Draft by the AFL's Miami Dolphins.
Morris was selected for three Pro Bowls over his nine-year professional career. The majority of his playing days were spent with the Miami Dolphins which he helped lead to Super Bowl VI which they lost to a strong Dallas team, he earned Super Bowl rings in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII. morris said in theese wordslike why cant people be like idoling like mc hammer or or mr t but no we gotta idol tom brady or or derek jeterThat year, he ran for exactly 1,000 yds, becoming, with teammate Larry Csonka, the first 1,000-yard tandem in NFL history. Morris was first thought to have finished with 991 yards, but the Dolphins asked the league to examine a play in which Morris fumbled a lateral. Morris was awarded the nine yards previously scored as lost on the play, giving him 1,000 yards for the season. Morris rushed for 954 yards the next season. Morris spent the last season of his career playing for the San Diego Chargers. He finished in the top five of the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice and total touchdowns once during his nine-year career.
In 1974, Morris co-starred as Bookie Garrett in the blaxploitation film The Black Six alongside other football stars of the day.
In 1982, Morris was convicted of cocaine trafficking. He was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment with a mandatory fifteen-year term. On March 6, 1986, his conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because evidence Morris had offered to prove his entrapment defense had been excluded under a mistaken characterization as hearsay. Morris was granted a new trial. He was able to reach a plea bargain with the prosecutor, resulting in his release from prison May 23, 1986, after having served three years. He later went on to a career as a motivational speaker. Towards the end of 2006, his name has come up in a commercial spot for a hair-treatment clinic, along with Wade Boggs.
Opinions regarding the 2007 New England Patriots
Throughout the 2007 NFL season, Morris has noted on several occasions for publicly criticizing how the New England Patriots' potential undefeated season is viewed and perceived among the media, particularly ESPN, in relation to the Miami Dolphins' undefeated 1972 season.
On November 15, 2007, an interview with Morris was aired on ESPN where he was quoted as saying:
- They're comparing them to a 17-0 team? If they're 17-0. But I think they're like ten games short right now, right? They got ten more icebergs to go through in this Titanic trip that they're talking about, and so far, nobody's made it across there except us. So we're [docked over] here waiting on you.
Morris continued, referring to the possibility of the Patriots going undefeated:
- I'm telling you, I respect the Patriots if they do that, but right now, they haven't done that. So come to me, like I said, don't call me when you're in my town, call me when you're on my block, and I see you next door moving your furniture in. That's when I'll know you're going to the championship and you're about to play. And if you win it, I'll be dressed up in a tuxedo waiting on my bride.
On December 3, 2007, Morris appeared on ESPN's Monday Night Countdown along with former Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese. On the prospect of the Patriots becoming the second undefeated team in NFL history, Morris said: "Don't go up there and now because you're two inches taller (referring to the two extra wins the Patriots would need to go undefeated in relation to the 1972 Dolphins)...and say 'oh, now we're up here.' No, you can be parked right beside us like Daytona, outside pole, otherwise known as number two." And other quotes, such as: "When they win the Super Bowl, we can be like Mr. Rogers and welcome them to the neighborhood, but they still have to win four more games."
On December 5, 2007, Morris appeared on ESPN's Sportscenter and performed a rap about the 1972 Dolphins being the only team that has ever gone undefeated in an NFL season.[1] Morris was on ESPN with Josh Elliott to discuss the New England Patriots' 12–0 record which, at the time, was five games short of matching the 1972 Dolphins' 17–0 combined regular season and post-season record. In this appearance, Morris criticized the manner in which the Patriots try to "bury everybody every week 'cause [they] can do it." Morris also vehemently repeated his argument of December 3 that even if the Patriots finish with a combined 19–0 record, two wins better than the Dolphins' 17–0 record, that not only should the Patriots' season not be considered better than the 1972 Dolphins' season, but also hinted at the idea that the Dolphins season should actually still be held in higher regard.
He also appeared more welcoming to the idea of the New England Patriots joining his Miami Dolphins as the only teams to complete a perfect NFL season, noting that for the first time, his Miami Dolphins would have someone to compare themselves to.[2] Morris also starred alongside several of his '72 Dolphins in a Reebok ad entitled "Perfectville", inspired by his statements earlier in the year. http://www.rbk.com/us/perfectville/
After the Patriots' loss in Super Bowl XLII, Mercury Morry said in an ESPN phone interview: "When this kid scored, a tear came to my eye because I'm emotional. You guys know you never see me like this. I'm very humbled at what the Giants were able to do as underdogs, realizing that on any given Sunday anyone can beat anyone else -- except in 1972."