John Bradley Morris (November 1, 1931 – April 27, 2022) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for four seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

, and

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

from 1958 to 1961, having earlier played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

Early life

Morris was born in

White City, Kansas White City is a city in Morris County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 447. History White City was founded in 1871 by a colony from Chicago. It was named for F.C. White, superintendent of the Neos ...

, on November 1, 1931. He was raised in

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the Me ...

, and attended Medford High School. There, he was a standout

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player and

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete, winning three state titles in

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. After graduating in 1950, Morris studied at the

. He joined the

US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

after completing his

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

year and consequently served in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Upon his return from military service, he established an Oregon Ducks record with 68 points in a single season and started his school-record 23 straight successful conversions. He then led the team with 519

rushing yards Rushing means a sudden forward motion, or a surge or onslaught. Rushing may refer to: Tactics * Rush (gridiron football), advancing the ball by running on offense. On defense, charging the quarterback or kicker is a pass rush. * Human wave atta ...

the following year, and became co-captain of the team by his

senior year Senior Year may refer to: * Senior (education), the final year in high school or college * ''Senior Year'' (2010 film), the 2010 film by Filipino director Jerrold Tarog * ''Senior Year'' (2022 film), a film starring Rebel Wilson * The Lockheed U-2 ...

. At the time of his graduation, he was ranked third all-time at Oregon in points scored (130) and rushing yards (1,631). Morris was drafted by the

in the seventh round (84th overall selection) of the 1956 NFL Draft.

Career

Morris made his NFL debut with the Rams on September 28, 1958, at the age of 26, in a 30–27 loss against the Cleveland Browns. During his rookie season, he finished second in the league in interceptions returned for touchdown (1), fourth in interception return yards (152), and seventh in interceptions (6), longest interception return (44 yards), and defensive touchdowns (1). He also led the franchise in interceptions that year. After just under three seasons with the franchise, he joined the

midway through the 1960 season. He then joined the newly-established

the following year and recorded the third-longest interception return in the NFL (65 yards). Morris was part of the inaugural class inducted into Medford's Sports Hall of Fame in 1985. Twenty years later, he was enshrined in the University of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame, having earlier been honored as part of the 1957 Ducks football team when they were inducted in 1994.

Personal life

Morris was married to Lois until his death. Together, they had four children: Tricia, Dana, Jolie, and Carl. Morris showed signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy during his later years. He died on April 27, 2022, at his home in Redmond, Oregon. He was 90, and suffered from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

prior to his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Jack 1931 births 2022 deaths American football safeties Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Oregon Oregon Ducks football players Los Angeles Rams players Pittsburgh Steelers players Minnesota Vikings players People from Morris County, Kansas Sportspeople from Medford, Oregon Military personnel from Oregon Players of American football from Oregon