Craig Morton

Morton was selected by the Dallas Cowboys fifth overall in the 1965 NFL Draft. He spent his first four seasons as the backup for Don Meredith, but still received opportunities to play due to periodic injuries suffered by Meredith.

In 1969, he became the starter at quarterback over Roger Staubach, after Meredith's unexpected retirement. Morton dislocated a right finger in preseason and had to miss the season opener. In the next three games, he had a 71.1% passing percentage and was seen as having a promising future as the starter. In the fourth game against the Atlanta Falcons, he suffered a separated right shoulder after being tackled by Tommy Nobis. In the next contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, he set club records with 10 consecutive passes and 5 touchdown passes in a single game, although he sat most of the second half. He did not miss any games because of his shoulder, but his effectiveness decreased to 53.6% the rest of the season, as he caused more damage.[4] He had surgery on his right shoulder during the offseason.[5]

In 1970, although he was bothered most of the season recuperating from his right shoulder surgery, he finished third in the NFL in passer rating with 89.8. He also led the Cowboys to Super Bowl V, where the team lost 16–13 to the Baltimore Colts. He had surgery on his right elbow during the offseason.

In 1971, head coach Tom Landry created one of the most famous quarterback controversies in NFL history,[6] when he began alternating Morton with Staubach as the starting quarterback, reaching its extreme against the Chicago Bears, where they alternated between plays. After this famous game, Landry settled on Staubach and the Cowboys went on a 10-game winning streak that included a 24–3 victory in Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins.

In 1972, Staubach suffered a separated right shoulder in the third preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams and Morton was named the starter. Although Staubach was activated in the fifth game of the season, by then Morton was entrenched at quarterback. For the first time since 1969, his arm had regained its strength, helping him register 185 completions (club record) out of 339 attempts (54.6%), 2,396 yards (fifth in the league), 15 touchdowns and 21 interceptions.[7] He was replaced late in the third quarter of the first-round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers. Staubach entered an apparently hopeless situation trailing 28–13 and threw two touchdown passes in the last 90 seconds to win the game 30–28,[8] eventually sealing Morton's fate with the team.

On March 18, 1974, he was selected by the Birmingham Americans in the second round (18th overall) of the WFL Pro Draft. On April 10, after repeatedly asking for a trade, Morton signed a contract with the Houston Texans of the World Football League for their 1975 season. He never played a down with them; he was traded to the New York Giants six games into the 1974 season,[9] in exchange for their number-one draft choice in 1975 (#2-Randy White) and a second-round draft choice in 1976 (#40-Jim Jensen).[10]

After acquiring Morton, the Giants traded their starting quarterback Norm Snead to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a third-round draft choice in 1975 and a fourth in 1976.[11] During his time with the Giants, he struggled along with the team, and "felt the vocal wrath of the fans."[12] He was traded to the Denver Broncos in 1977 in exchange for quarterback Steve Ramsey and a fifth-round draft choice in 1978 (#137-Brian DeRoo). In his 34 career games with the Giants over three seasons, he had an 8–25–0 record, throwing for a total of 5,734 yards, 29 touchdowns, 49 interceptions and a 52.1 completion percentage.

At age 34, Morton revived his career with the Broncos,[13] finishing the season as the second rated passer in the AFC. Morton was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year for 1977 and selected All-AFC by the Sporting News. Although he suffered in the playoffs from a swollen left hip that needed to be drained,[14] he overcame the injury to become the first NFL quarterback to start the Super Bowl for two different teams (Dallas in V and Denver in XII), a feat only equaled by Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady. [15] Morton and Brady are the only quarterbacks to lead a team to the Super Bowl in each conference, while Morton is the only quarterback to have started for two different teams' inaugural Super Bowl appearances. Unlike Warner, Manning, and Brady, however, Morton would not win a Super Bowl as a starter. He threw a franchise playoff record four interceptions in Denver's defeat against his former team, the Cowboys, which led to him being pulled in favor of Norris Weese.

Morton's best statistical season came in his penultimate 17th season in 1981, when he threw for 3,195 yards and 21 touchdowns and had a 90.5 passer rating. He was a downfield passer not known for his mobility, but is one of the all-time leaders in yards per completion. He briefly held the record for the most consecutive passes completed. His 8.5 yards per attempt that season remains a Broncos franchise record, as do his 54 sacks, and two games where he was sacked seven times each (later matched by Elway and Tim Tebow).

Morton wore number 7 for the Broncos and retired just before the arrival of celebrated rookie John Elway in 1983,[16] who wore the same number and in whose honor it was retired. Morton remains the third all-time passing yards leader in team history with 11,895 and his regular-season record was 50 wins and 28 losses in five seasons. Morton was inducted into the Denver Broncos' Ring of Fame in 1988.

Although Staubach replaced him for the Dallas Cowboys 1973 season, Morton played seven more years than did Staubach. The Cowboy teammates graduated from college the same year and share the same birthday (Staubach is a year older), however, Staubach first served in the U.S. Navy for four years and then retired after the 1979 season, while Morton played through 1982.[16]

In 1986, Morton was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. In 1988, he was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame.