Mercury Morris, Miami Dolphins great from the perfect 1972 team, dies at 77

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Mercury Morris, a great Miami Dolphins running back on their two Super Bowl-winning teams, has died at 77.

Morris’ death was first announced by his son on social media platform X and has been confirmed by the Dolphins.

Morris was a 1,000-yard rusher on the Dolphins’ undefeated 1972 team and has been one of the more passionate defenders of the team’s title as the NFL’s lone perfect team in league history with his outgoing personality.

He led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns that season, earning one of three career Pro Bowls, the others in 1973, when the Dolphins defended their Super Bowl crown, and 1971, when Miami made its first Super Bowl but lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

Morris was the speedster in a great Dolphins backfield trio in the early 1970s that also consisted of Jim Kiick and Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka.

Morris is survived by his children Geno, Maceo, Tiffany, Troy and Elliott and his siblings Cynthia, Valerie and Janice.

Former Dolphins punter Larry Seiple, who spent his entire 11-yard career with Miami (1967-77) and was part of the 1972 Perfect Season, recalled Morris fondly.

“To me, he was the voice of the ’72 team,” Seiple said Sunday from his home in Central Florida. “He said nationally what a lot of guys were thinking, but didn’t want to say it.

“To be honest with you, there’s quite a few of us that were in the same boat. But he was a good man, he really was. He played his heart out when he had to. He will be remembered as one of the great ones.”

“He was a good man, he was a good friend, he was a good teammate,” Seiple added.

Morris was a member of the Dolphins from 1969-75.

In 1972, Morris rushed for 1,000 yards, and teamed with Csonka, who rushed for 1,117 yards, to become the first NFL duo to each rush for 1,000 yards. Kiick rushed for 521 yards that season.

Morris’ 12 touchdowns that led the league in 1972 were all receiving.

In 1982, Morris was imprisoned for three and a half years on a cocaine trafficking charge, but he was released in 1986 after his conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court and he pleaded no contest at a new trial.

Morris was sometimes cantankerous. One infamous incident involves the time he almost fought with legendary coach Don Shula after the Dolphins lost Super Bowl VI.

As the story was recounted by the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Dave Hyde in an interview with Morris: Even in the losing locker room after Super Bowl VI, he sat on a folding chair, surrounded by the nation’s sports writers, and repeated how the Dolphins had lost to Dallas because coach Don Shula didn’t play him.

Shula and Morris nearly came to a fistfight right there.

“It was like the O.K. Corral,” Morris remembers. “But if I don’t speak up right there, Shula doesn’t play me the next year. I had to force him to play me. I’m not just going to sit back and be quiet about what I perceive to be an injustice.”

Morris played a total of eight seasons, seven with the Dolphins and his final season (1976) with San Diego. He spent part of his post-football career as a motivational speaker.

This story will be updated.

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