Craig Morton: RIP To A Friend
Not everything on this site will be just Avs-related. I wanted to take just a few moments here to remember a guy I was lucky enough to call a friend - former Broncos quarterback Craig Morton.
Craig passed away Saturday surrounded by family and friends at his home in Mill Valley, Calif. For you kids out there, he played 18 years in the NFL and was the quarterback of the first Broncos team to make the Super Bowl, in 1978 (most of the actual season was in 1977).
I didn’t live in Denver in 1977, but I remember well the mania surrounding that team, nicknamed the “Orange Crush” for its great defense. The offense, led by Morton, was no slouch either. He was the AFC offensive player of the year, in fact.
For a kid who knew literally everything about every player and team in the 1970s, Denver always stood out to me as being unique in true fandom and hysteria for one team. The fact I would one day write sports in Denver for more than 30 years still astounds me.
In 2008, I was contacted by Triumph Books to see if I was interested in writing a book with Craig Morton. It would be called “Then Morton Said to Elway: The Best Denver Bronco Stories Ever Told.” It would also come with a CD of actual KOA radio highlights from that season, by longtime Broncos voice, Bob Martin.
I had a full-time job covering the Avalanche, not to mention other stuff in the summers. But, of course, I said yes to the offer. I got a $5,000 advance for it. Morton got more than that to agree to do it.
I was excited for it. For me, Craig Morton was a big star from the ‘70 (his career actually started in 1965 with the Dallas Cowboys). Now, here I was, doing a book with him!
I was a bit nervous about the first call to him, though. What kind of person would he be? Would he be difficult in any way?
It took about 30 seconds for me to know that Craig Morton would be a joy to work with. He was friendly, talkative, and I spent many hours on the phone with him getting his recollections of his days in Denver, not to mention many others about his life and long career.
I think he told a lot of great stories in the book, and so did others. That included legendary Cowboy QB Roger Staubach, who called me when I was in a hotel room in Calgary covering an Avs trip. He told me stories about Craig for about 15 minutes about their years together in Dallas. Wish I still had the tape of that call. He couldn’t have been nicer. I’m still in shock I ever talked to Roger Staubach.
During another Avs trip to San Jose, I made plans to meet Craig Morton himself. We met for a long lunch at a great restaurant overlooking the water in Berkeley, Calif. We didn’t just talk for the book during this meeting. In fact, my recollection is we mostly just talked about life, as two guys.
When the book came out, Triumph paid for Morton to come to Denver to do a few book signings. I introduced him to the crowd and signed the book too, if people wanted it. Mostly, they only wanted to meet Craig and have him sign. There was a signing at the Barnes and Noble in Thornton, and me, my friend Bob and his wife, Jen, picked Morton up at his downtown hotel to go to the signing.
To our pleasant surprise, there was a long, long line already in place when we all pulled up. Craig was a bit tired from doing a signing earlier in the day (at a place on Santa Fe, can’t remember its name) and while the crowd waited in anticipation to get their books (and other memorabilia) signed, he asked the manager at Barnes for a cup of coffee. The manager gave him a big cup, plus a big piece of carrot cake.
After ingesting the items, Morton sat at a table and signed everything and anything the people in line wanted.
We drove him back to the hotel, and he sounded really touched at how great the fans were to him. We said goodbye. That was the last time I would ever see him, but we did keep in touch over the years via text.
The book sold pretty well. Maybe not to the extent everybody hoped, but it sold a respectable number of copies. (I don’t think the title of the book was the greatest, but that wasn’t my call).
It was an honor to do that book with him, and it was more of an honor to get to meet, know, and work with him.
RIP Craig, you’ll be missed.
Wonderful story AD and what a great experience you had. Being an older member of your audience who lived and died with sports when I was younger (not now), I recall Craig Morton and the Orange Crush Broncos vividly, to include watching (on television) the end of that 1977-78 season where Morton led Denver in their first playoff games and victories (the season ended unfortunately, but Broncomania, as you indicate in the article, was a phenomena ... it even ended up - in a manner of speaking - in a Mark & Mindy episode!). Morton, like Fran Tarkenton, spent a period in purgatory as a Giants QB. He had zero luck in big games (in fact, it is legitimate to say that he was the author of 2 of the 4 worst Super Bowl QB performances, along with David Woodley of the Dolphins and Tony Eason of the Patriots), but he played in a lot of them, which is just as much a measure of success. He was sufficiently talented that Tom Landry pretty clearly preferred him over Roger Staubach (until it was no longer something that he could continue to do following the 1971-72 Super Bowl season following an in-season QB competition, and then the famous 1972 playoff comeback over the 49ers) - and that, ladies and gentlemen, speaks about as strongly as anything could. Red Miller stayed with him as his starting QB even after age and lack of mobility became problematic because Morton adapted to the NFL evolving into a pass-centric league and was a reliable decision maker. Great article AD - now on to Game 5 tonight and hopefully a fitting end to this series.
The man that guided the Broncos to their first play off wins, and to their first SB appearance... Craig Morton.
Honestly, his best game wasn't during the 1977 season while in Denver. His greatest work as a Broncos quarterback was in a game against Seattle in 1979.
The significance of this particular game, and his significant contributions to the never say die culture of the Broncos team can be traced to his performances in '77, but in this September 23rd game he put his stamp on that culture he helped create.
This contest solidified Morton as a Denver legend, proving his resilience despite nagging injuries, and doing it coming off the bench in the third quarter.
"Craig Morton engineered one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history, leading the Denver Broncos from a 24-point deficit to a 37-34 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Entering the game in the third quarter down 34-10, Morton threw three touchdowns in roughly 2.5 minutes to take the lead."
I was a senior in highschool; and, I was as thoroughly impressed by this regular season game as I was by his divisional game clinching drive in '77 against Pittsburgh.
When I thought about Craig, upon learning he had passed away, those two games immediately came to mind. An outstanding Denver Broncos quarterback, an even better man outside of the game. The original number 7.