Cal Quarterback Great Craig Morton Dies at 83

Morton went on to play 18 NFL seasons and was the first quarterback to start for two different teams in the Super Bowl

Craig Morton | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Craig Morton, one of Cal’s greatest quarterbacks and a two-time starter in the Super Bowl during his 18-year NFL career, died Saturday.

Morton was 83 years old. His family confirmed the news, according to the Denver Broncos.

Morton grew up in the South Bay community of Campbell and played at Cal under head coaches Marv Levy and Ray Willsey and was tutored by young assistant coach Bill Walsh.

He led the nation in passing yards with 2,121 yards as a senior in 1964 and, despite the Bears going 3-7 that season, Morton earned All-America honors and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Morton departed Cal having set most of their significant passing records over three varsity seasons.

Mike Pawlawski, who quarterbacked the Bears a quarter-century later and is the team’s radio analyst, recalled his first meeting with Morton before a game against Oregon.

Craig Morton, right, and Mike Pawlawski at Memorial Stadium in 2018 | Jeff Faraudo

“He walks up to me and he goes, `How you doing quarterback?’ And I’m, `Omigod, Craig Morton just called me quarterback.’ It was the greatest thing ever.

“I love Craig. Just the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet in your entire life. He was always really good to me.”

Before coming to Cal, Morton was an all-state honoree in football, basketball and baseball at Campbell High School. He was voted the Northern California high school athlete of the year as a senior, played in the high school state all-star football game and was chosen by the professional baseball draft.

Pawlawski saw that athletic versatility when he took Morton fly fishing on the Green River in Utah for an outdoors TV show he hosted. “Like a quarterback — and like Craig — it took him about 15 minutes and he was casting better than 90 percent of fly fishermen,” Pawlawski said. “Unbelievable.”

Morton was exceptional as a senior at Cal, completing 60.1 percent of his pass attempts in an era where 50 percent was the norm. Notre Dame’s John Huarte won the Heisman that year, but Morton finished ahead of the likes of Joe Namath and Gale Sayers in the voting. 

Craig Morton at Cal | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

The 6-foot-4, 214-pounder was awarded the Pop Warner Trophy as the top player on the West Coast and earned all-conference honors for a second straight year. He threw at least one touchdown pass in 16 consecutive games as a junior and senior with the Bears.

Morton completed his college career as Cal’s record holder in a variety of categories, including touchdown passes in a game (5), TD passes in a season (13) and a career (36), along with passing yards in a game (285), a season (2,121) and career (4,501).

After his senior year, he played in the East-West Shrine Game, where he dueled opposing quarterback Roger Staubach, who became his Dallas Cowboys teammate and ultimately, his successor as the starter.

Selected by the Cowboys as the fifth pick (and the first quarterback) in the first round of the 1965 NFL draft, Morton played 10 seasons for the franchise. A backup to Don Meredith most of his first four seasons, he became the starter in 1969 and passed for 2,619 yards and 21 touchdowns, including five in a game vs. the Atlanta Falcons.

Despite battling a shoulder injury, he led the Cowboys into Super Bowl V following the 1970 season, where they lost 16-13 to the Baltimore Colts. Morton became involved in a famous quarterback controversy in 1971, when coach Tom Landry used both Morton and Staubach as the starter, even sending them on and off the field on alternating plays in one game.

By the 1974 season, Staubach had nailed down the starting job while Morton was drafted by the Birmingham Americans of the fledgling World Football League. Morton never played in the WFL but finally, after asking to be traded, the Cowboys sent him to the New York Giants midway through that season.

Just 8-25 as a starter with the Giants over 2 1/2 seasons, Morton was traded to the Denver Broncos, where his career got a second lease on life. 

Craig Morton pitches the ball as Broncos quarterback | Photo by Darryl Noremberg, Image Images

His best season in Denver was his first, guiding the team to a 12-2 record in 1977. The Broncos scored postseason victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders on the way to Super Bowl XII, where they lost 27-10 to Morton’s old team, the Cowboys. He was the first player to start at quarterback in the Super Bowl for two different teams, a distinction since matched by only Kurt Warner, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.

At age 34, Morton was honored as the 1977 NFL Comeback Player of the Year and the AFC Offensive Player of the Year.

Morton sculpted a record of 41-23 as a starter over parts of six seasons with the Broncos, passing for a career-high 3,195 yards with 21 touchdowns in 1981. He retired early in the ’82 season.

He passed for 27,908 yards — 10th-most in NFL history when he retired — and 183 touchdowns over his pro career, posting a record of 81-62-1 in 144 games as a starter. 

Morton was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1992 and also has been honored in College Football Hall of Fame, San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, the Denver Broncos Ring of Fame and the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. 

He is survived by his wife, Kym; his sister; his children; and his grandchildren.

Follow Jeff Faraudo on Twitter, Facebook and Bluesky