Some QB pearls from Earl

Morrall familiar with situation

By Gordon Edes, Globe Staff, 1/31/2002

EW ORLEANS - He is one of the great relief pitchers in NFL history, a guy who replaced two Hall of Fame quarterbacks who went down with serious injuries and guided teams to the Super Bowl.

Tom Brady, meet Earl Morrall, who stepped in shoes previously occupied by Johnny Unitas and Bob Griese and did nothing but win.

Drew Bledsoe, meet Earl Morrall, who was replaced by Unitas in one Super Bowl - the most famous of them all, the Joe Willie Namath guaranteed upset over the Baltimore Colts in 1969 - and was left on the bench in another Super Bowl in favor of Griese, who had returned from injury (a broken ankle) the previous game to lead the Miami Dolphins to a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1972 AFC title game.

The similarity of his circumstances and those faced by the Patriots quarterbacks does not escape Morrall, who empathized with New England coach Bill Belichick for the decision he made last night on a starting QB for Super Bowl XXXVI - Brady.

''It's one of those decisions that no matter what you do, not everyone is going to be overjoyed about it,'' Morrall, in town for an NFL charity event, said yesterday afternoon from his French Quarter hotel.

''It's a tough, tough, tough thing, no matter what you do. Both want to play and be a part of it. Bledsoe has been there before and has the coolness, the resolve. His attitude is, `I'm ready.' At a moment's notice, he can do it. He's proven that.

''Brady has had a great year. It depends on his ankle. How bad is it? That's going to be a big factor. If it's good, I think they go with him. He's the one with the hot hand.

''But I know what Bledsoe is going through. You lose that first one [Super Bowl], you want to be part of the next one.''

The parallels are not perfect. The crewcut Morrall was a 34-year-old, 12-year pro, not some untested kid a year out of college, when he stepped in for Unitas in 1968, after Johnny U. sustained a serious elbow injury that involved nerve damage, an injury that bothers him to this day. Without Unitas, who went down in the last exhibition game, the Colts lost only once behind Morrall all year, routed Cleveland in the NFL championship game, 34-0, and were heavy favorites to defeat Namath's Jets, champions of the fledgling American Football League.

But in the weeks before the game, Namath disparaged Morrall, saying there were at least five AFL quarterbacks better, including his own backup, former Patriots star Babe Parilli. Morrall professed to be unperturbed, but in the Super Bowl had a poor game, completing just 6 of 17 passes for 71 yards while throwing three interceptions. He also failed to spot a wide-open Jimmy Orr for what would have been a sure touchdown on a flea-flicker.

Namath, meanwhile, was named MVP after the Jets shocked the Colts, 16-7. The game ended with Morrall on the sideline and a subpar Unitas unable to complete a pass for more than 20 yards.

By 1972, when Morrall was with the Dolphins as Griese's backup, he already had experienced some vindication for his Super Bowl humiliation. The previous year, in Super Bowl V, Unitas was knocked out of the game with bruised ribs and was replaced by Morrall. It wasn't pretty, but the Colts edged the Cowboys, 16-13.

Unlike this season's Patriots, who sputtered at the outset under Bledsoe, the '72 Dolphins were undefeated when Griese sustained a fractured ankle in the season's fifth game. But under Morrall, who was now 38, the Dolphins went undefeated and went into halftime of the AFC title game tied against the Steelers.

By the playoffs, Griese and Morrall were trading snaps in practice, and Dolphins coach Don Shula, looking for a spark, decided to start the second half with Griese.

''The first thing he did was hit [Paul] Warfield with a quick slant that he took for 57 yards,'' Morrall said. ''They went in for a score, and then they took it in for another score, and we won, 21-17.''

Two days later, as the Dolphins began preparations to complete what is the only perfect season in NFL history, Shula called Morrall into his office and told him he was starting Griese in the Super Bowl.

''I wasn't enamored of his decision,'' Morrall said dryly, ''but I knew it had been an agonizing decision for him. Certainly, I wanted to play. I told him I'd contributed a big part, and that I wanted to play in the Super Bowl.

''But he said he felt Bob was ready, that he'd been the No. 1 until he got hurt, and he felt better about me coming off the bench.

''I give Shula credit. He wanted to nip any controversy in the bud - he didn't want two weeks of public debate - and he wanted to tell me right away. The decision was made, and nobody was up in arms about it.

''The idea is to win the last game. Being older, knowing myself, I knew the Super Bowl was one you didn't want to lose. This is the game people remember more than anything else. Lose this one, and everything else is forgotten. I knew that as well as anybody.

''Yeah, I wanted to play as much as anybody, but I told the coach I wouldn't make waves. A younger guy might have sulked.''

With Griese in charge and throwing a touchdown pass to Howard Twilley, the Dolphins beat the Redskins, 14-7, and finished the season undefeated. Morrall was on the field for the game's most bizarre play, when field goal kicker Garo Yepremian picked up a blocked kick, fumbled while trying to make a pass, and Washington's Mike Bass returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.

Morrall, who played in four Super Bowls in all, yesterday praised Bledsoe for the way he has handled his benching this season. ''I was glad to see him come in last week and do the job he did,'' Morrall said.

''[Belichick] might feel he's better coming off the bench. He's proven he can do it. But I'm all for the old guys, too.

''It's a delicate thing. You have to try and keep everybody on the same page. I had friends who wanted to see me play. There are teammates who may feel like they play harder for one guy, or have confidence in one guy.

''And there's a psychological thing. If your starter is not going good, you may feel like, `Let's get the other guy in.' That's what you don't want to do, is to have a scapegoat in mind.

''But when you get this far, winning is all that counts.''