Craig Morton obit

Broncos Ring of Famer Craig Morton, 

who led Denver to first Super Bowl, dies at 83

Morton quarterbacked the Broncos to a Super Bowl appearance in 1977 and was inducted to the Ring of Fame in 1988

 He was not on the list.

Craig Morton, a Broncos Ring of Fame quarterback who played professionally for nearly two decades, died Saturday at his home in Mill Valley, Calif., at the age of 83.

Morton’s family confirmed his death through the organization, which announced the news on Monday.

Morton led Denver to its first Super Bowl appearance in 1977, quarterbacking the team best known for its ferocious Orange Crush defense. That season, at the age of 34, Morton earned the league’s comeback player of the year award and sparked a six-season run with the Broncos.

“He was our leader that year that we went 12-2, the first year he came to Denver,” fellow Broncos Ring of Famer and former safety Steve Foley told The Post. “It was a magical season. He was just tough as nails.”

Morton was hurt throughout the playoffs and Foley said the quarterback was in the hospital before the AFC Championship Game, when the Broncos beat the Oakland Raiders, 20-17, and advanced to their first Super Bowl appearance.

“I don’t know how he even suited up,” Foley said. “He was black and blue and yellow all over his hip. … Man, he came out and had a great game. He was just tough.

“And what a gem of a guy. Oh, yeah. He had the best heart.”

Morton was the first quarterback to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl, taking the Cowboys there in 1970 before later leading the Broncos.

Morton was born in February 1943 in Michigan, but graduated from high school in California and played quarterback in college at Cal. He also played baseball in college. He was selected No. 5 overall by Dallas in the 1965 NFL Draft, five years before the AFL and NFL merged.

Early in his career, Morton started for Dallas over Roger Staubach before Staubach eventually took over the job.

Morton, though, engineered a long and successful career in pro football.

He played in 207 career games over 18 seasons, including 72 games (64 starts) for the Broncos from 1977-82. Morton was 41-23 as a starter and threw for 11,895 yards for Denver.

“He had a confidence about himself. Kind of a swagger,” Foley said. “Our offense picked up when he arrived. We just knew he could win. He brought that to the team. And man, he had an arm. Oh, yeah. He had a gun.”

Morton was inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 1988 as part of a three-man class along with Haven Moses and Jim Turner. Four years later, he was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.

Morton’s tenure in Denver helped put the Broncos on the map.

“Absolutely, it did,” Foley said. “It made everybody wake up and say, ‘Who is this team on the interior of the United States?’ Unless you played on the East Coast or West Coast, you weren’t getting much coverage.”

Foley said he last saw Morton in the Champions Club at Empower Field during a game sometime in the past two seasons and said he remembered thinking, ‘Man, he looks great.'” Players from the Orange Crush era were surprised and saddened, then, to learn of the quarterback’s passing.

“It’s a little bit shocking,” Foley said. “He was a beautiful guy.”

Morton played college football at the University of California, Berkeley, under head coach Marv Levy and assistant coach Bill Walsh, both future NFL head coaches and members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Morton became the starter in the sixth game of his sophomore season in 1962. Back then his nickname was "Big Hummer" and his production dominated the Golden Bears offense output.

As a sophomore in 1962, he only played in the last five games because of a knee injury he suffered in practice while returning punts. He still managed 905 passing yards, a 54% completion rate, and 9 touchdowns. As a junior in 1963 he already owned most of Cal Berkley's all-time quarterback records.

In his three seasons as a starter at Cal, he never played on a winning team. He completed 185 of 308 passes for 2,121 yards and 13 touchdowns in his senior season in 1964, but even with a losing 3–7 record, he was recognized for his talent and contributions by being named first-team All-American over other winning quarterbacks. He also received the W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy, given to the best player on the Pacific Coast and the Pop Warner Trophy, given to the best senior player. In the balloting for the Heisman Trophy won by John Huarte of Notre Dame, Morton was seventh, ahead of Joe Namath of Alabama and Gale Sayers of Kansas.

Morton finished his college career with 4,501 passing yards (a Pac-8 record), and most of Cal's All-time passing records, including:

 

Touchdown passes in one game (5)

Touchdown passes in a season (13)

Touchdown passes in a career (36)

Total yards in one game (285)

Passing yards in a career (4,501)

Passing yards in a season (2,121)

Most passing completions and attempts in one game

Most passing completions and attempts in a season

Most passing completions and attempts in one game

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 out 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.[3] He had surgery on his right shoulder during the offseason.[4]

 

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, 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.

 

Following his playing career, Morton served as head coach for the Denver Gold of the United States Football League (USFL). He was a voter in the Harris Interactive College Football Poll, a component of college football's now-defunct Bowl Championship Series.

 

In 2008, he co-authored a book with Denver Post writer Adrian Dater entitled "Then Morton Said to Elway..." - The Best Denver Broncos Stories Ever Told. The book was published by Triumph Books.

 

Morton died at his home in Mill Valley, California, on May 9, 2026, at the age of 83.

 

Career history

Dallas Cowboys (1965–1973)

New York Giants (1974–1976)

Denver Broncos (1977–1982)

Awards and highlights

Super Bowl champion (VI)

NFL Comeback Player of the Year (1977)

AFC Offensive Player of the Year (1977)

Denver Broncos Ring of Fame

Pop Warner Trophy (1964)

First-team All-American (1964)

2× First-team All-Coast (1963, 1964)

Career NFL statistics

Passing completions    2,053

Passing attempts          3,786

Completion percentage           54.2

TD–INT          183–187

Passing yards  27,908

Passer rating    73.5

Rushing touchdowns   12