Larry Cleo Morris (December 10, 1933 – December 19, 2012) was an American 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
linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...
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), primarily with the
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
. The 1950 graduate of
Decatur High School became an
All-American playing
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 ...
for the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...
before his NFL career. "The Brahma Bull" was named one of the linebackers on the
NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
This is a list of National Football League (NFL) players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1960s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the end of t ...
. He was sentenced to probation for his role in the
Savings and loan crisis.
College career
Morris was a four-year starter and a two-way player at center and linebacker positions for the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...
. Morris was also selected as three times first-team All-SEC and a team captain as a senior. He played during coach
Bobby Dodd
Robert Lee Dodd (November 11, 1908 – June 21, 1988) was an American college football player and coach, college baseball coach, and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Georgia Tech from 1945 to 1966, compil ...
's most successful seasons at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had a 40-5-2 record over Morris’ four seasons, won two SEC titles, four bowl games and a share of the 1952 national championship with a 12–0 record. In his final game as a Yellow Jacket against rival
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
in
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, AthÃna ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
on November 27, 1954, he played the entire game and was credited with 24 tackles as his team won 7–3. He was later named to the All-SEC 25-year team spanning 1950–1974 and in 1992 was inducted into the
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...
, one of 12 Tech players there.
Professional career
Morris was the seventh overall pick of the 1955 NFL draft. He was named one of the linebackers on the
NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
This is a list of National Football League (NFL) players who had outstanding performances throughout the 1960s and have been compiled together into this fantasy group. The team was selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame at the end of t ...
. Morris played 12 seasons total with 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 ...
,
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...
, and
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...
. He was the MVP of the
1963 NFL Championship Game
The 1963 NFL Championship Game was the 31st annual championship game, played on December 29 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. The game pitted the visiting New York Giants (11–3) of the Eastern Conference against the Chicago Bears (11–1â ...
for the Bears. In addition, he was a member of the Atlanta Falcons' first-team in 1966.
Savings & Loan crisis conviction
Morris was indicted and received probation during the
Savings and loan crisis. As a licensed Atlanta real estate agent, two top corporate executives of First Mutual Savings in Pensacola, Florida, took illegal kickbacks causing his condos and rehabs loans to go bad.
Health concerns
Morris was featured in an article in
The Sporting News
The ''Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a pr ...
about former football players who had head injuries that happened during their career. According to the article, Morris had little, if any, recollection of his playing days.
Death
Larry Cleo Morris died on December 19, 2012. A native Atlantan, he spent his last few years, since 2009, under nursing home care, at Presbyterian Village, in the city of
Austell, Georgia
Austell is a city in Cobb and Douglas Counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,713.
History
The area that is now Austell was frequented by game ...
.
His brain was donated by his family to Boston University for the study of
brain injuries associated with former professional football players.
See also
*
1952 college football season
The 1952 college football season ended with the unbeaten Michigan State Spartans (9–0) and Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (12–0) each claiming a national championship from different polls. Michigan State finished first according to two of the "w ...
*
Mike Ditka
Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...
References
External links
Larry Morris statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Larry
1933 births
2012 deaths
People from Austell, Georgia
Sportspeople from Cobb County, Georgia
Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players
All-American college football players
American football players with chronic traumatic encephalopathy
College Football Hall of Fame inductees
Los Angeles Rams players
Atlanta Falcons players
Chicago Bears players
Deaths from dementia in Georgia (U.S. state)