Earl Morrall in 1968-Baltimore Colts

[LeonardRachiele]

After the disappointment in 1967, the Baltimore Colts were determined not to have the same thing happen in 1968.  Johnny Unitas though came up with tendonitis and the Colts picked up Earl Morrall from the New York Giants. With minimal preparation, Morrall responded with his best season ever. Earl was the NFL's leading passer, an All Pro, and the Player of the Year. He of course had a great team behind me and the figures are there for you to see.  For the sake of brevity,  here are Morrall's figures and the scores during the season.  182 passes completed, a 57.4% completion rate, 2,909 yards; and 26 touchdown passes. The season results:

Game 1 San Francisco W 27 to 10
Game 2 @ Atlanta W 28 to 20
Game 3 @ Pittsburgh W 41 to 7 (a route)
Game 4 Chicago W 28 to 7 (and the Bears had Gale Sayers and Dick Butkus)
Game 5 @ San Francisco W 42 to 14 (a route)
Game 6 Cleveland L 30 to 20 (the only loss)
Game 7 Los Angeles W 27 to 10 (the Rams finished 10-3-1)
Game 8 @ New York W 26 to 0 (a shutout)
Game 9  @ Detroit W 27 to 10
Game 10 @ St. Louis W 27 to 0 (the Cardinals were 9-4-1)
Game 11 Minnesota W 21 to 9 (Central Division Champion 8-6 record)
Game 12 Atlanta W 44 to 0 (third season shutout)
Game 13 Green Bay W 16 to 3 (defending NFL Champions)
Game 14 @ Los Angeles W 28 to 24 ( meaningless game but the Colts won anyway)

Season Record W 13 L 1
Western Conference Playoff W 24 to 14
NFL Title Game @ Cleveland Browns W 34 to 0 (fourth shut out)

[Retro Rider]

There was no NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1968 but I have to think Earl Morrall would have won that as well (he did win it in 1972). A strong case could have also been made for Bill Nelsen who finished 3rd in the NFL MVP voting behind Morrall and Leroy Kelly.

[JohnTurney]

There was no NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1968 but I have to think Earl Morrall would have won that as well (he did win it in 1972). A strong case could have also been made for Bill Nelsen who finished 3rd in the NFL MVP voting behind Morrall and Leroy Kelly.

Makes sense---and it i an oddity that neither AP nor UPI had CPOY those two years...

Morrall would be perfect for 1968

1967? Billy Kilmer? Norm Snead? Lance Rentzel? Boyd Dowler?

[Retro Rider]

There was no NFL Comeback Player of the Year award in 1968 but I have to think Earl Morrall would have won that as well (he did win it in 1972). A strong case could have also been made for Bill Nelsen who finished 3rd in the NFL MVP voting behind Morrall and Leroy Kelly.

Makes sense---and it i an oddity that neither AP nor UPI had CPOY those two years...

Morrall would be perfect for 1968

1967? Billy Kilmer? Norm Snead? Lance Rentzel? Boyd Dowler?

Off the top of my head I don't know who would be the CPOY for 1967. I would have to do some research on that. However, I do have a question that you might be able to answer.

Johnny Unitas won the Bert Bell NFL MVP trophy in 1967 but it appears there was also a winner in the AFL. This photo of Daryle Lamonica shows him in his trophy room in 2009 with two Bert Bell MVP trophies. The one on his left is dated 1967 (when you click on it to enlarge) and the one at his right, I assume, is from 1969:

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news ... o/88904294

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news ... o/88904272

They look identical to the trophy Unitas received in 1967:

88a085565e69fe7d14b602e8ef0e35e5d66aa3ac.jpg (125.69 KiB) Viewed 3706 times

My question is how many years did the Maxwell Club hand out an AFL MVP award? I've never seen a list of AFL winners, only the NFL recipients (1959-present).

Thanks for any information. I didn't see AFL (Bell) winners listed in your Modern Years All-Pro Book (1960-1998) or in Total Football II.

[JohnTurney]

Thanks for any information. I didn't see AFL (Bell) winners listed in your Modern Years All-Pro Book (1960-1998) or in Total Football II.

That is a find. I had never seen those photos before. And they are identical. I have just spent a half hour on Newspapers.com
and there is no mention of any AFL winners of the Best Bell Award/Trophy by the Maxwell Club.

There are articles about Unitas and Beban in 1967, Kelly and Simpson in 1968, and Gabriel and Mike Reid in 1969

nothing about Lamonica at all . . . so, even after looking through major newspapers I could not find any record
of any AFL player getting a Bert Bell Trophy yet there are two right in that photo so they clearly did.
Wonder if Namath got on for 1968?

This is what I have, major and minor MVP/POY Awards-so it's not the Columbus Touchdown Club that is the Joe F. Carr Trophy (not to be confused
with the original). Loamonica won the Washington DC TD Club Award in 1968---so, I just don't know.

Again, a great find.

1967
(NFL)
• Johnny Unitas, QB - Baltimore (United Press International, Associated Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Sporting News, PFWA—NY Chapter, Maxwell Club of Philadelphia, Washington D.C. Touchdown Club, Columbus Touchdown Club)
(AFL)
• Daryle Lamonica, QB - Oakland (United Press International, Associated Press, Sporting News, PFWA—NY Chapter, Columbus Touchdown Club)
• Lance Alworth, WR – San Diego (Washington D.C. Touchdown Club)
1968
(NFL)
• Earl Morrall, QB - Baltimore (United Press International, Associated Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Sporting News, PFWA—NY Chapter, Pro Football Weekly)
• Leroy Kelly, HB - Cleveland (Maxwell Club of Philadelphia, Columbus Touchdown Club)
• Ray Nitschke, LB, Green Bay (Washington D.C. Touchdown Club)
(AFL)
• Joe Namath, QB - NY Jets (United Press International, Associated Press, Sporting News, PFWA—NY Chapter, Pro Football Weekly)
• Daryle Lamonica, QB – Oakland (Washington D.C. Touchdown Club)
•Lance Alworth, WR – San Diego (Columbus Touchdown Club)
1969
(NFL)
• Roman Gabriel, QB - LA Rams (United Press International, Associated Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Maxwell Club of Philadelphia, Sporting News, Columbus Touchdown Club)
• Sonny Jurgenson, QB – Washington (Washington D.C. Touchdown Club)
(AFL)
• Joe Kapp, QB - Minnesota (PFWA—NY Chapter)
• Daryle Lamonica, QB - Oakland (Associated Press, United Press International, Sporting News, PFWA—NY Chapter, Columbus Touchdown Club)
• Joe Namath, QB - NY Jets (Newspaper Enterprise Association)
• Lance Alworth, WR – San Diego (Washington D.C. Touchdown Club)

[Retro Rider]

That is a find. I had never seen those photos before. And they are identical. I have just spent a half hour on Newspapers.com
and there is no mention of any AFL winners of the Best Bell Award/Trophy by the Maxwell Club.

There are articles about Unitas and Beban in 1967, Kelly and Simpson in 1968, and Gabriel and Mike Reid in 1969

nothing about Lamonica at all . . . so, even after looking through major newspapers I could not find any record
of any AFL player getting a Bert Bell Trophy yet there are two right in that photo so they clearly did.
Wonder if Namath got on for 1968?

I was wondering about Namath as well ... I couldn't find anything on the Maxwell Club web page which included a list of all winners since 1959. Could they have handed out an AFL Bell trophy after the merger agreement? I'm totally baffled.

Thanks for checking. I did find your all-time list of NFL MVP's at PFJ about an hour ago and it's very informative! Here's a link for those who haven't seen it:
https://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com ... f.html?m=1

[JohnTurney]

Could they have handed out an AFL Bell trophy after the merger agreement? I'm totally baffled.

I am baffled, too. I'd suspect you are right, maybe Lamonica was the first, but there should be some record
in the papers.

[Retro Rider]

Could they have handed out an AFL Bell trophy after the merger agreement? I'm totally baffled.

I am baffled, too. I'd suspect you are right, maybe Lamonica was the first, but there should be some record
in the papers.

Maybe someone out there has a 1968 or 1970 Raiders Press Guide. There might be mention of it in Lamonica's bio. I have the '69 Jets edition and there is no mention of Namath receiving the Bell Trophy for '68.

[JohnTurney]

Maybe someone out there has a 1968 or 1970 Raiders Press Guide. There might be mention of it in Lamonica's bio. I have the '69 Jets edition and there is no mention of Namath receiving the Bell Trophy for '68.

I've contacted someone associated with the Maxwell Club-maybe they can get some info---we'll see, I doubt the Club even knows about it.

[Retro Rider]

I've contacted someone associated with the Maxwell Club-maybe they can get some info---we'll see, I doubt the Club even knows about it.

There has to be an explanation. It's too bad that Lamonica has passed away.