One of our finest has passed on - Larry Morris

Originally Posted by LongforDodd

Just saw his obituary in the AJC.

My mother has a very good friend who is friends with Mr. Morris widow. Larry may have suffered the effects of footbal as so many others have these last years of his life. Played 12 years of pro ball after his GT career.

He did, as I recall, beginning in his 50s, and was one of those talked about in the early-on concussion debates. His was particularly severe, and early-onset. He was a great player in HS and a world class linebacker in Chicago, when they were really the Monsters of the Midway. Who can forget that classic photo of a helmet-less and bleeding Y.A. Tittle, on his knees, having just been clocked by Morris? Undoubtedly hundreds of such hits would destroy many years of his life.

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Originally Posted by Curious

He did, as I recall, beginning in his 50s, and was one of those talked about in the early-on concussion debates. His was particularly severe, and early-onset. He was a great player in HS and a world class linebacker in Chicago, when they were really the Monsters of the Midway. Who can forget that classic photo of a helmet-less and bleeding Y.A. Tittle, on his knees, having just been clocked by Morris? Undoubtedly hundreds of such hits would destroy many years of his life.

He was a spectacular player from the Golden Age; perhaps the best to ever play his position at Georgia Tech. For a generation he defined the prototypical defensive player in a program that was truly one of the elite defensive teams in the nation.

Best linebacker we have had at the flats......he would hit you often and ...hard.

Originally Posted by Yukonwreck

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He was a spectacular player from the Golden Age; perhaps the best to ever play his position at Georgia Tech. For a generation he defined the prototypical defensive player in a program that was truly one of the elite defensive teams in the nation.

He was all of that, and some of it in the age of one platoon football. And I meant he was a great player in college, though he must have been in high school, too. Hard to learn that such an icon lived the last years of his life so hard, and his family suffered so much. And for that he probably got paid, what? $8,000 a year or so? Shoot, Alabama and LSU quadruple that now. George Morris a couple of years back, now Larry Morris.

Originally Posted by Curious

He was all of that, and some of it in the age of one platoon football. And I meant he was a great player in college, though he must have been in high school, too. Hard to learn that such an icon lived the last years of his life so hard, and his family suffered so much. And for that he probably got paid, what? $8,000 a year or so? Shoot, Alabama and LSU quadruple that now. George Morris a couple of years back, now Larry Morris.

The slogan of "too smart to do drugs" is very popular. Will we soon be hearing a new mantra: Too smart to play football?

Originally Posted by Yukonwreck

The slogan of "too smart to do drugs" is very popular. Will we soon be hearing a new mantra: Too smart to play football?

We may very well hear it. I know parents of 10-12 year-olds now who absolutely forbid their boys to play football, and one of them is lobbying to require kids' soccer leagues to require helmets. One of my HS coaches was a great player who had one concussion, but so bad his doctor forbid him to ever play football again, and two players on my HS teams, both linemen, had concussions so bad they had to quit. It is a hard, dangerous sport, made more so when one reads a former NFL player saying he was "taught to lead with my helmet." You still see that today. Maybe playing without helmets is the answer, but given the crazed nature of some of those players, maybe not.