Joseph Edward Morris (born September 15, 1960) is a former

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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 ...

who played for the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

from 1982 to 1988. Initially noted for his diminutive stature — 5' 7", Morris was a key member of the Giants team that won

Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

in 1987. He rushed for 67 yards, caught four passes for 20 yards, and scored a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

in the game.

College career

While playing scholastic sports at

Ayer High School Ayer Shirley Regional High School is a high school located in Ayer, Massachusetts. The school colors are maroon and white, and the mascot is the Panther. The student body contains about 350 students in 9th-12th grade. School Support The school b ...

Ayer, Massachusetts Ayer () is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Originally part of Groton, Massachusetts, Groton, it was incorporated February 14, 1871, and became a major commercial railroa ...

, Morris was an All-State in two sports. Morris was a four-year starter at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. At Syracuse, Morris set all of the all-time rushing records rushing for 4,229 yards in his four seasons surpassing former greats such as

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

Larry Csonka Larry Richard Csonka (; born December 25, 1946) is a former professional American football fullback who played for the Miami Dolphins for the majority of his career, along with the New York Giants for three years, and a short stint with the Mem ...

and

Floyd Little Floyd Douglas Little (July 4, 1942 – January 1, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a halfback for the Denver Broncos, initially in the American Football League (AFL) and later the National Football League (NFL). He ...

. An

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n choice by his senior year, he was selected to play in the Blue–Gray, East–West Shrine and

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

games before signing on with the New York Giants. Morris was also co-captain with Ike Bogosian, father of

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

player

Zach Bogosian Zachary M. Bogosian (born July 15, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenceman with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres and T ...

Professional career

Morris was the New York Giants' second round pick in the

1982 NFL Draft The 1982 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 27–28, 1982, at the New York She ...

, and quickly outshined their first round pick,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

back Butch Woolfolk. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

with the Giants in 1982, Morris scored a touchdown on his very first rushing attempt; a prelude of what was to come for this powerful running back. In 1985, he rushed for 1,336 yards and a league leading 21 touchdowns, and rushed for 141 yards in their 17–3 postseason win over the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

. Morris was a key member of the '86 Giants Super Bowl championship team rushing his way to a 1,000 yard season. He went on to add two more 1,000 plus yard rushing seasons, moving past

Alex Webster Alex Webster (born 1969) is an American bass player who is best known as a member of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. He is one of two remaining members of the original lineup of the band, along with drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. He is al ...

as the all-time Giants leader. In the Giants' march to the

Lombardi Trophy The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to victor ...

, Morris rushed for 313 yards in three playoff games including a 159-yard, two touchdown performance against the

. He was selected to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in '85 and '86 seasons and also received All-NFL Honors for his performance those two years. Towards the end of the 1988 season, he totaled 1,318 attempts, 5,296 yards and 48 touchdowns for the New York Giants. Morris retired from professional football in 1991 with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

and finished his NFL career with 5,585 rushing yards, 111 receptions for 960 yards, and 52 touchdowns.

Giants Franchise Records

's NFL off-season, Joe Morris held at least 19 Giants franchise records, most related to his prolific post-season career with the club. These records include: * Most Rush Attempts (playoff career): 140 * Most Rush Attempts (playoff season): 73 (1986) * Most Rush Yards (playoff career): 553 * Most Rush Yards (playoff season): 313 (1986) * Most Rush Yds/Att (playoff game): 6.63 (1987-01-04 SFO) * Most Rushing TDs (season): 21 (1985) * Most Rushing TDs (playoff career): 4 (Tied with

Brandon Jacobs Brandon Christopher Jacobs (born July 6, 1982) is a former American football running back, who spent the majority of his career with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Coffeyville, Auburn, ...

) * Most Rushing TDs (playoff season): 4 (1986) * Most Rushing TDs (playoff game): 2 (1987-01-04 SFO; tied with

Rodney Hampton Rodney Craig Hampton (born April 3, 1969) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 1990 NFL D ...

) * Most Rush Yds/Game (playoff career): 79 * Most Total TDs (season): 21 (1985) * Most Total TDs (playoff season): 4 (1986; tied with

and

Hakeem Nicks Hakeem Amir Nicks (born January 14, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at North Carolina, and was drafted by the New York Giants in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. Nicks has also played for t ...

) * Most 100+ yard rushing games (season): 9 (1986; tied with

Tiki Barber Atiim Kiambu "Tiki" Barber (; born April 7, 1975) is an American former football running back who played for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Virginia ...

) * Most 100+ yard rushing games (playoffs): 2 (NA; tied with

Ottis Anderson Ottis Jerome Anderson (born January 19, 1957) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Miami, wh ...

and

) * Most Games with 1+ TD scored (season): 13 (1986; tied with

) * Most Games with 2+ TD scored (career): 15 (Tied with

) * Most Games with 2+ TD scored (season): 7 (1985) * Most Games with 3+ TD scored (career): 6 * Most Games with 3+ TD scored (season): 4 (1985)

After football

Morris now works in real estate and insurance. He resides in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

with his two children. He was also a part owner of the

New Jersey Red Dogs The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

, along with fellow ex-Giants

Carl Banks Carl E. Banks (born August 29, 1962) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played from 1984 to 1995 for the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins and the Cleveland Br ...

and

Harry Carson Harry Donald Carson (born November 26, 1953) is a former American football middle linebacker who played his entire professional career for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). Carson was inducted into the College Football Ha ...

Family

Morris had two younger brothers follow him to Syracuse University. Mike was a wide receiver and Larry was a running back. Morris' youngest brother,

Jamie Morris James Walter Morris (born June 6, 1965) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and a record-setting running back in college for the University of Michigan Wolverine ...

set the all-time rushing records at the

References