Allan Byron (Teddy) Morris (March 1910 – September 5, 1965) was a

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates great achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about t ...

player and coach for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

. Morris began playing

Canadian football Canadian football () is a team sport, sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's sco ...

with Toronto playground teams and moved on to the Winnipeg Native Sons junior football team. Upon his return to Toronto he joined the Argonauts junior squad and quickly earned a spot on the senior team. He was a star player for the Argonauts for nine years and was named All-

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

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 ...

three times and

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

twice and named the 1937

Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy The Jeff Russel Memorial Trophy is a Canadian football award recognizing the most outstanding football player of the Quebec Student Sport Federation (RESQ) The trophy was originally presented to the player who best exemplified skill, sportsmanshi ...

winner as the player who best exemplified skill, sportsmanship, and courage in the

Interprovincial Rugby Football Union The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues. T ...

. Morris' recovery of an Argonauts' punt blocked by Winnipeg's Bud Marquardt in the

25th Grey Cup The 25th Grey Cup was played on December 11, 1937, before 11,522 fans at Varsity Stadium at Toronto. The Toronto Argonauts defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 4–3. Until 2021, this was the latest in the calendar year that any Grey Cup was playe ...

is often cited as the first of the fabled " Argos Bounces" as it bounced off the field and right into Morris' hands preventing a Blue Bomber possession deep in Argos territory. In 1940, the year following his last game as a player, Morris began as a

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

coach for the Argonauts then, during IRFU's break from playing during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, coached HMCS ''York'''s football team, and upon IRFU's return to play in 1945, became Argonauts head coach earning three consecutive Grey Cups from

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country in ...

and respect from fans and players alike. Morris briefly returned to the Argonauts in 1960 as assistant coach to

Lou Agase Lou Agase (August 2, 1924 – June 26, 2006) was an American gridiron football player and coach of Assyrian ancestry. Agase played tight end and offensive tackle for the Illinois Fighting Illini football team from 1944 to 1947. He was a membe ...

, having been brought in to help the American acclimatize to Canadian football.

Awards, honours, and records

* The Teddy Morris Memorial Trophy is the championship trophy of the Ontario Football Conference of the

Canadian Junior Football League The Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL) is a national Major Junior Canadian football league consisting of 19 teams playing in five provinces across Canada. The teams compete annually for the Canadian Bowl. Many CJFL players move on to profess ...

. * The Ted Morris Memorial Trophy is awarded to the

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

of the

CIS football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports (formerly Canadian Interuniversity Sport). Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athletic confer ...

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup (french: Coupe Vanier) is the championship of Canadian university football. It is organized by U Sports football and is currently played between the winners of the Uteck Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl. It is named after Georges Vanier, ...

championship game. * awarded the

in 1937 as the player who best exemplified skill, sportsmanship, and courage in the

. * named All-

running back in 1933, 1934, and 1936. * named All-Eastern flying wing in 1935 and 1938. * merited Canadian Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a builder (

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

) * inducted into

Canada's Sports Hall of Fame Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (french: Panthéon des sports canadiens; sometimes referred to as the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame) is a Canadian sports hall of fame and museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dedicated to the history of sports in Canad ...

in 1975 * named an All-Time Argo in 1998.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Teddy 1910 births 1965 deaths Players of Canadian football from Ontario Canadian football running backs Canadian Football League executives Toronto Argonauts players Toronto Argonauts coaches Canadian Football League Most Outstanding Player Award winners Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Toronto