It is a heartbreaking day in Miami. Eugene “Mercury” Morris, a legendary running back for the Miami Dolphins, died Saturday night. He was 77.
Morris, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, was an integral part of Miami’s perfect 17-0 1972 season, under Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, which remains the only undefeated campaign in the Super Bowl era. Morris also won a second straight Super Bowl with the Dolphins in 1973.
Troy-Jeffrey Morris, his son, released a statement on behalf of Morris’ family on his social media platform Sunday morning, indicating Morris had died the night before. The Dolphins confirmed Morris’ death to the Miami Herald.
“His talent and passion left an indelible mark on the sport, and his three Pro Bowl selections only solidified his place among football’s greats,” the statement from the Morris family read. “Beyond the field, Mercury was a devoted father, a loving brother, a loyal friend, and a pillar in the community. His presence extended far beyond football, as he touched the lives of many throughout his time in Miami.”
Morris was drafted in the third round of the 1969 draft out of West Texas State, now West Texas A&M. He was named a first-team All-American after his senior season at West Texas State, where he was the cream of the crop, setting multiple rushing records.
Once he made the jump to the NFL, Morris spent seven seasons with the Dolphins and one season with the San Diego Chargers, before hanging up his cleats and walking off into the sunset in 1976. In his eight-year career, he accumulated 4,133 rushing yards and 3,118 return yards. Morris was inducted into the Dolphins Walk of Fame in 2013.
Morris was the starting halfback and one of a trio of go-to runners that Dolphins coach Shula used in Miami’s back-to-back title seasons of 1972 and 1973, alongside Pro Football Hall of Famer Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick.
Morris led the Dolphins in rushing touchdowns in both of those campaigns, finishing with an NFL-best 12 in 1972 and following that up with 10 more in 1973.
“I think Shula gave everybody a different kind of direction and purpose being coached by this guy,”
Embed from Getty ImagesMorris said in 2008. “We were middle-class people and middle-class fans, and Shula was a blue-collar worker. And he had kind of a work ethic that really allowed you to see that if you work hard and you do what you’re supposed to do, then things are going to turn out for you — not all the time but you adjust to that and do what’s necessary to try to do as best you can.”
Through the years, Morris has been outspoken about the 1972 Dolphins’ legacy, often dismissing the notion of another team recreating that team’s dominance and success. Even as NFL teams have gone deep into the schedule without a loss, the Miami record has stayed intact for 51 consecutive seasons. The 2007 New England Patriots have come the closest, but the lost in the Super Bowl to Eli Manning and the New York Giants 17-14.
“Let me say, I think that it’s been so long and that it’s happened one time that people still don’t get it,” Morris told ESPN in 2013, shortly before he was added to Miami’s Walk of Fame. “Some things that happen once in life, they won’t happen twice.
“Bill Parcells said it: You are who your record says you are,” Morris added. “What’s hard to take is that fact. So, there’s not going to be somebody else that’s going to come along and match it.”
Morris is survived by five children and three siblings, according to the family’s statement.
