SuperBowl 12: Was The Fix In?

[RhymesayersDU]

So, I mentioned to my Dad that I had downloa...errr... purchased legally the NFL SuperBowl Highlights DVD, and watched SuperBowl 12 on it, Cowboys/Broncos.

He proceeds to tell me "Oh yeah, I remember that. I think Craig Morton threw that game."

Now... My Dad is known to exaggerate, talk ****, etc. He shoots off at the mouth at times (apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?) and not realize the accusations he's making. And maybe he was just trying to explain how bad Morton/the team played.

But... Maybe not? I don't know. I obviously didn't see the whole game. But I figured it might bring up an interesting discussion.... Or just a lot of flaming of my Dad.

Either way!

[Meck77]

Been a couple years since I watched the game but can't recall thinking he threw the game.

[brncs_fan]

I know more than a few people who belive the fix was in on SB XXXII. Not so sure about SB XII.

[spdirty]

I remember hearing that Morton was sick as a dog and seriously shouldve been in a hospital prior to that game.

My question is, if Morton is healthy, and Little played, do we have a real shot at that game?

That was before I was alive so I don't know.

[spdirty]

Originally Posted by brncs_fan

I know more than a few people who belive the fix was in on SB XXXII.

yeah...we couldve put 50 on their asses but decided not to.

[Paladin]

One thing I remember was the "TD catch" by Butch Johnson. He was in the air, got two hands on it and the ball was out just as he hit the ground and they called it completed. Nowadays, that pass would have been diallowed. Game would have been 20-10, but still......

[Florida_Bronco]

B-love posted something along these lines awhile back...however I believe he felt it was not fixed.

[Hogan11]

Originally Posted by spdirty

I remember hearing that Morton was sick as a dog and seriously shouldve been in a hospital prior to that game.

My question is, if Morton is healthy, and Little played, do we have a real shot at that game?

That was before I was alive so I don't know.

Little was gone by the time the '77 season came around.....if he had hung on and if Charley Johnson had hung in there as well, they may not have won, but it would've been a much better game. I've always said that any decent QB (meaning NOT Norris Weese) could've done what Morton did with the talent around him on that team (maybe even more) and I still feel that way.

It's well known that Morton was far from one of my faves...that said, the notion of the born again Morton throwing the game for any reason is just a laughable concept to me. He just didn't have any business being on that field in the condition he was in...a condition that made a basically medicore QB into a real poor one at the worst possible time.

[telluride]

Well, I've long heard from very solid sources -- meaning reporters covering the team and also family of team members at that time -- that it was sort of an open secret that Morton was a pretty serious coke user in the latter years of his career (and beyond). His "illness" was alleged to be a result of this.

Even so, I don't think that team had the offense to compete in the game, no matter the QB. The defense was awesome, tho.

[wabbit]

Craig Morton received an anti-biotic I-V every morning of the week prior to SB XII with complications from a hip injury and subsequent bone infection.

I think he even spent an entire day in the hospital for continuous treatment the Monday before the SB.

I wasn't in New Orleans, but friends of mine said he could barely walk most of the week, and while the Bronco practices were closed, ex-Bronco Guard Steve Schindler (#1 draft choice in '77) told me Morton only took about 25% of the reps...and even then, was barely able to stay upright WITHOUT any pass rush.

27-10 was amazing in itself considering how completely inept the Denver offense was throughout the game.

Add to this the fact that his LT, Andy Mauer was a scrub...on the same side where Randy White manned the DE/DT for the Cowboys, well, it wasn't going to turn out well no matter what shape Morton was in prior to the game.

Despite his obvious limitations at QB, many believe Red Miller should have started Norris Weese...and even with all that could go wrong that did go wrong...Denver might've scored on the very first Kick-Off if LB Larry Evans could've recovered a Cowboy fumble that bounced right to him, before it bounded harmlessly out of bounds in the end zone.

Golden Richards (Butch Johnson can't remember) had to make an absolutely spectacular TD grab in 4th Quarter to finally put the game out of reach. Denver had actually moved within 20-10 prior to that.

But fixed No...'pre-destined' might be a better word.

[broncocalijohn]

Originally Posted by spdirty

I remember hearing that Morton was sick as a dog and seriously shouldve been in a hospital prior to that game.

My question is, if Morton is healthy, and Little played, do we have a real shot at that game?

That was before I was alive so I don't know.

Morton was dogly sick prior to the Raiders game and came directly from the hospital. As for XII, it was his worse game ever but the condition he was in, he couldnt take it and Weese actually played a good 2nd half. If we want to put the game on a fix, then we should also blame Elway for the 49ers and Redskins games. We lost, deal with it.

[Atlas]

Morten was in the hospital the whole week prior to going to New Orleans, and he was just killed that game. He didn't play well but it wasn't his fault.

Denver should have went into the game with a more conservative game plan. Their defense played very well, if it wasn't for 7 offensive turnovers they might have won the game.

[RhymesayersDU]

Interesting stuff. Thanks for the input, everybody.

[The Moops]

Morton threw 4 interceptions, but there were also 4 other turnovers from fumbles -- 8 turnovers in all. Can't remember who all fumbled but I know Riley Odoms was one. So it wasn't just Morton. Despite the unbelievable 8 turnovers, the score could have been a whole lot worse than 27-10.

The defense played spectacularly despite Joe Collier's suspect defensive line rotation, which irked Lyle Alzado and other starters. Alzado noted in his book: "Mile High: Lyle Alzado and the Amazing Denver Broncos" that all the touchdowns were scored with the starting d-line off the field. Staubach was sacked something like 5-6 times. Lyle Alzado made Cowboys tackles Ralph Neeley his B-@A(*.

The Cowboys got 1 TD from that controversial Butch Johnson catch; the other on trick play: Staubach handing the ball to fullback Robert Newhouse who threw a perfect pass to Golden Richards with Steve Foley barely missing to swat it away.

Alzado later told Floyd Little: "If you had played, we would have won."

[jsco70]

My most vivid memory was the fumble at the goal line. The game might have turned out differently had Denver recovered.

[Gcver2ver3]

Took place before I was old enough to care.....

However...to this day I have my doubts about Neil O'Donnell in the 95 SB.....

Those two picks he threw to Larry Brown made absolutely no sense......

[jonny1]

Also, Tom Glassic (left guard) was sick all week and started the game weighing 245 lbs . . . against Randy White and Harvey Martin.

So a un-mobile QB was going to get killed in that game, no doubt.

[Bronco Bob]

I watched the game and from what I remember of it, Morton was getting
killed out there, no time to throw the ball, lots of sacks and interceptions
from having to throw the ball too soon. I don't think he could have thrown
the game even if he wanted to, the Dallas defense was all over him too
soon. Basically it was the same thing that happened to Elway in the
first 3 Elway Super Bowls, never had time to do anything with the ball.
I doubt anyone would accuse Elway of throwing those Super Bowls.

[vancejohnson82]

Originally Posted by gcver2ver3

Took place before I was old enough to care.....

However...to this day I have my doubts about Neil O'Donnell in the 95 SB.....

Those two picks he threw to Larry Brown made absolutely no sense......

I mean....c'mon....It was Neil O'Donnell

[B-Love]

Norris Weese was the biggest farce in the history of the team. Because he ran a few naked bootlegs, some people were enamored with him, after watching Morton hold the ball and get sacked a bit.

Morton was a very good passing QB, but was a sitting duck against that D Line. Harvey Martin and Randy White were co - MVP's, but Ed Jones could have made it a 3 headed MVP. Our Left Tackle had NEVER played Tackle before and he was traded for, right before the season opener. Tom Glassic, out LG, was scrappy, but no match for Randy White, and that was before he lost 25 lbs, due to the flu. And our Center Mike Montler, was a Colorado boy, who Red Miller asked to come out of retirement in the summer of '77. Montler rode his bike 100 miles before the start of training camp.

Maurer, Glassic and Montler versus a world class D Line, like Dallas had, was the worst personnel matchup in the history of the Super Bowl.

Morton could not even get back to the top vector of his passing pocket without already being under pressure. He forced a few ****ty balls for sure, but the idea he threw the game is just absurd.

The rumor was started by Paul Zimmerman from SI, who had a nasty relationship with Morton, for the three years he covered the Giants with Morton as their QB.

[B-Love]

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/showthr...57#post1463357

This topic comes up every year, but here is a pretty good review of the issue from last year.

Morton was a very good passing QB, who had one of the top 5 arms in football, even in his later seasons.

Hogan and I always have this debate, but Charlie Johnson and Floyd Little would have made no difference in SB 12.

Charlie Johnson had half the arm Morton had, was just as immobile, and 10 times more injury prone. Charlie Johnson started approximately 40 games during his time in Denver (1972-75)and had to be removed, due to injury, from about 15-17 of those games. Charlie Johnson, was far and away the most injury prone QB in football, and that reputation goes back to his days with the Oilers and Cardinals as well.

If Morton was battered by Manster, Too Tall and Harvey Martin, Charlie Johnson wouldn't have survived the first quarter.

Also by 1974 Floyd Little was less talented than Otis Armstrong, who started in Super Bowl 12 for us. So having Floyd in SB 12 would've meant nothing either.

Dallas was the most physical Defense in the league, with that nasty front 4, DD Lewis, Bob Breunig, and the hard hitting Cliff Harris. It was not a good matchup for us.

[Gcver2ver3]

Originally Posted by vancejohnson82

I mean....c'mon....It was Neil O'Donnell

True....

but even with that said....the throws were THAT bad....

[BroncoBuff]

Originally Posted by spdirty

I remember hearing that Morton was sick as a dog and seriously shouldve been in a hospital prior to that game.

Morton had injury prollems (legs or ribs) and was in a hospital before the AFC Ch-Ship game ... it was guard Tom Glassic that had a serious flu and was hospitalized before the SB game. By all accounts, his weight dropped to 240 or less by gametime ... he was a swinging gate for Harvey Martin and Randy White.

I heard rumors about Morton throwing that game for years ... but I'm not so sure. Some of those interceptions looked very strange, and my Dad recalled that Morton had previously been in some kind of financial straights due to an investment of some kind ... I don't recall, but it seems unlikely to me. Morton's health and Weese's availability would've made him a poor investment before the game, as it wasn't a sure bet he would play much.

The Butch Johnson TD would be reversed today on instant replay ... but no way was it referee misconduct. The worse call/non-call was a Roger Staubach interception that was called back because supposedly he stepped outta bounds ... THAT was a killer, because the 77 Broncos lived on turnovers, and that pick (Louis Wright?) would have changed the arc of the game had it stood.


I agree with B-Love that Weese was overblown as a player, but startng him that day might've changed the outcome of the game. The Cowboys won with sacks and picks (Co-MVPs were defensive players), andhad Weese played, sacks would've been few and far between that day.

[The Moops]

Alzado told Floyd they would have won if he had played, because he indicated the offense needed stronger leadership. The defense was filled with leaders, Gradishar, TJ, BT, Paul Smith, and Lyle ...

I consider Charley Johnson a great quarterback and probably the most underrated QB of his era. No one outside of Denver ever talks about him. Johnson was one of the top QBs in the league during the early 1960s with the Cardinals. Then he missed parts of seasons due to a military commitment, and when Jim Hart came around, he tutored him and was shipped to the crappy Oilers. There he tutored Dan Pastorini and Lynn Dickey, both became good QBs. Floyd said Charley was easily the best QB he ever played with and the player he admired the most.

Before Morton came to Denver he was a big-time bachelor. I don't know if he had alcohol or drug problems, but I know when he came to Denver he met this sweet, down-to-earth girl (I believe named Susan) and got married. Denver helped change his life, and he helped change Denver's.

[BroncoBuff]

I loved Charley Johnson too ... but you might be pushing it there. He was never even a Pro-Bowler.



*EDIT* I take that back, he was a Pro-Bowler in 1963!