Jon Morris (born April 5, 1942) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive lineman for fifteen seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and

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 Boston/New England Patriots, Detroit Lions, and Chicago Bears. His father was John D. Morris, a longtime reporter and editor in the Washington bureau of the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

. At

Gonzaga College High School Gonzaga College High School is a private Catholic college-preparatory high school for boys in Washington, D.C. Founded by the Jesuits in 1821 as the Washington Seminary, Gonzaga is named in honor of Aloysius Gonzaga, an Italian saint from the 1 ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, he was a three-sport athlete in football, basketball and baseball. After Gonzaga, he played center and linebacker for three seasons of college football at the College of the Holy Cross. He was the ''Washington Daily News's'' Athlete of the Year in 1960 and Holy Cross Varsity Club Athlete of the Year and Lineman of the Year in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

. He was selected All-East and

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 ...

in his senior year, captained the

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 ...

, and played in the College All-Star Game in August. Morris was inducted into the Holy Cross Hall of Fame in 1973, was an inaugural inductee of the Gonzaga College High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1983. He was joined in 1991 by his brother Will, who quarterbacked at Gonzaga and the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

as well serving as Gonzaga head football coach from 1975 to 1978. The Green Bay Packers, led by head coach and general manager

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

, picked Morris in the second round of the

1964 NFL Draft The 1964 National Football League draft was held in Chicago, Illinois, at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers on Monday, December 2, 1963. The first overall pick was Dave Parks, an end from Texas Tech, selected by the San Francisco 49ers. The AFL ...

(27th overall), however Morris chose to go with the Boston Patriots, who selected him in the

fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

(29th overall) of the

AFL draft The Australian Football League draft is the annual draft of unsigned players, especially new nominations, by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Australian Football League (AFL). History W ...

. Morris was the team's Rookie of the Year in 1964, and their "Unsung Hero" in 1965. He was an AFL All-Star six times, 1964 through 1969, and was an AFC Pro Bowl Center in

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

; he was the first Patriot to be selected for the AFC Pro Bowl. Morris was named to the second-team, All-Time All-AFL, and to the fan-selected Boston Patriots All-1960s Team. He played 128 games for the Patriots, the eighth best individual record in club history. Morris played three years (

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

–

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

) with the Detroit Lions, elected by Lions teammates as their "Offensive Player of the Year" in 1975. He played his fifteenth and final professional season with the Chicago Bears in . Morris recovered several fumbles during his career. The first was a fumble by running back

Ron Burton Ronald E. Burton (July 25, 1936 – September 13, 2003) was an American football player in the American Football League (AFL) for the Boston Patriots. He was a consensus All-American running back at Northwestern University, and is a member of ...

in the Boston Patriots' 24-7 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...

on October 23, 1964. In 1966, he recovered a fumble by running back Larry Garron in the Patriots' 27–27 tie with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

at Municipal Stadium on November 20. He also recovered a fumble by fullback Jim Nance in a 16–0 loss to the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

at Fenway on October 13,

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. Morris wore #56 for the Patriots, as did Pro Football Hall of Fame LB

Andre Tippett Andre Bernard Tippett Sr. (born December 27, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was an outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the New England Patriots. He played college football ...

. After his playing career, Morris worked as the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

on Patriots radio broadcasts from 1979 to 1987, followed by color analysis of NFL games for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

television. In 2011, Jon Morris was selected by a senior selection committee as a member of the Patriots Hall of Fame.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Jon 1942 births Living people American Conference Pro Bowl players American Football League All-Star players American Football League All-Time Team American football offensive linemen Boston Patriots players Chicago Bears players Detroit Lions players Gonzaga College High School alumni Holy Cross Crusaders football players National Football League announcers New England Patriots announcers New England Patriots players Players of American football from Washington, D.C. College of DuPage Chaparrals football players American Football League players

See also

References

External links