Bemoaning the Earl Morrall Effect

Isn't it an indication that something might be wrong with our hero worshiping ways when Earl Morrall is forgotten in favor of so-called celebrities with no actual accomplishments on their resumes? This piece ran in the Winter Haven News Chief, and in th

Bemoaning the Earl Morrall effect

by

Jamie Beckett

   
    If football is a metaphor for politics and business, and it clearly is, then this is a perfect time to reconsider our out of control fascination with celebrity through a football based prism.
    These next couple weeks are the pinnacle of the football culture in America. All eyes are on the NFL. So as the playoffs roll on, I conducted a brief and totally unscientific poll. The point being to test my hypothesis about hero worship and our unnatural fixation on the famous and so-called “beautiful people.” Of self-described football fans I asked a single question, “What do you know about, Earl Morrall?”
    The responses I got ranged from quizzical expressions of frustration, a fair amount of head scratching and more than one response of, “Who’s Earl Morrall?”
    Read on...
    In 1968 Earl Morrall was a backup quarterback for the then Baltimore Colts. The legendary Johnny Unitas held the top slot on that team. Football fans far and wide know that Unitas faced off against Joe Namath and the upstart New York Jets in Super Bowl III at the culmination of that season. What they are seldom aware of is that Unitas left the field with an injury during the final exhibition game that year. It was Earl Morrall who marshaled the Colt forces and led a defiant march toward the big game. In twelve regular season games and a successful playoff run, Morrall was often on the field while the more celebrated Unitas stood on the sidelines.
    Unitas is a legend. Namath went down in history as a giant killer. Morrall is forgotten for the most part.
    If that was the greatest slight of Earl Morrall’s football career, the situation would be just slightly sad. Unfortunately, Morrall’s fall from the public consciousness is even less understandable when his subsequent years in the game are taken into consideration.
    Morrall and the Colts made the cut again two years later, playing the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V. With the mighty Johnny U. injured once again, Morrall took the field, leading his team to victory this time.
    Earl Morrall had two Super Bowls under his belt. Yet his greatest professional accomplishment still lay ahead of him. Not that anyone seems to have noticed.
    In 1972 Morrall went to the Miami Dolphins. In an incident reminiscent of Morrall’s experience with the Colts, first string quarterback, Bob Griese went down with an injury in the fifth game of the season. Stepping in to fill the void, the aging veteran led his team through a season unlike any seen to that time. The 1972 Miami Dolphins went undefeated through the entire twelve game regular season, two hotly contested playoff games and won Super Bowl VII. For the bulk of that season, Earl Morrall was on the field playing quarterback. He led his team through victory after victory, including three shutouts that included an embarrassingly lopsided blowout over the New England Patriots. The final score of that game was 52 - 0.
    Over the course of six years Earl Morrall played in three Super Bowls, winning two of them. Once, he led his team to an undefeated season. Those credentials should earn Morrall a lasting place in the pantheon of the greatest, most determined players ever to walk onto the field. Instead, he’s barely a blip on the average football fans radar. He’s forgotten, if they ever knew his name at all.
    In a nutshell, that’s American culture. We focus on individuals who seek, or have the limelight thrust upon them. Our attention is almost exclusively devoted to the top tier political candidates, based more on personality and poll results than ideology and initiative. For good or ill, we see the celebrity in all situations. Rare is the case when we dig even marginally deeper to find the men and women who do the real heavy lifting to create a success story. We individually don’t seem to care for the most part. Unfortunately, the press is equally guilty, if not even more culpable for the fact that it is our job to expose the facts and discuss situations openly.
    Earl Morrall may have done his share of the grunt work in a career rich with triumphant celebration. But he was rarely the focus of the cameras or the autograph hounds. As a man and a competitor, he is largely unknown, forgotten, unappreciated. I suspect Mr. Morrall has adjusted to that outcome - even if the rest of us are poorer for the cold shoulder we’ve shown him and those of his character and class.
    Perhaps it’s time for us to collectively say, “Thank you,” to the Earl Morralls of our time. They have proven to be our very best role models - capable, competent and humble in their nature and their work.
    There is nothing more we can reasonably ask of our cultural icons. Perhaps we should stop settling for so much less, in our quest for heros to hang our hopes and dreams on.
   
    Winter Haven resident Jamie Beckett can be contacted via his website at: jamiebeckett.com

Reviews

[Edmund Jonah]

You always express yourself well and it's a pleasure to read - although I could never understand why grown men would go out of their way to damage each other over an oval shaped ball! I guess Cricket too is a dangerous sport, but at least the bowler aims for the wickets and not for the batter! Has this made any difference for the neglected Earl and is he still alive to appreciate it?

[W.k.kortas]

The Steelers would like to thank Earl Morrall for stinking on ice for a couple of years before they cut him loose to find glory elsewhere.