It remains one of the best trivia questions to date. Who is the all-time leading Chicago Bears wide receiver? Most might throw out more recent names like Brandon Marshall or Alshon Jeffery. Others would throw out Willie Gault or Curtis Conway as possibilities too. All those guesses would be wrong. Despite plenty of contenders over the years, that mark still belongs to Johnny Morris.
A lowly 12th round pick in 1958, what many people don’t know is he wasn’t originally slated for wide receiver. George Halas had planned to use him as a return man and a running back. This is how things were through the first three seasons of his career. It didn’t seem to both Morris much. He made the Pro Bowl doing that in 1960. However, Halas was always thinking ahead.
According to Dan Pompei of The Athletic, he saw potential in Morris as a wide receiver. Why? It’s thanks to the trailblazing work of a future Hall of Famer on another team.
The next year, Halas had an idea. At the time, most NFL wide receivers were tall and lanky, like the 6-foot-3 Coia. The year before, the Eagles had moved 5-foot-9 Tommy McDonald to flanker, and opposing defenses didn’t know how to deal with his quickness. Halas used McDonald as a model.
Morris was a natural at the position, and he is convinced the move from halfback extended his career.
“After a game at running back, I was always sore,” he says. “As a wide receiver, you didn’t take the pounding.”
Chicago Bears wide receiver brood can learn from Morris
People like to talk about guys like Wes Welker as being the reason small wide receivers get a fair shake these days in the NFL. They don’t understand that such a thing doesn’t become possible without the efforts of Morris. He showed that size wasn’t always required to be dangerous in the passing game. He helped the Bears win the NFL championship in 1963 before exploding for 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns a year later.
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It’s fair to wonder how different his career might’ve been had he come around a decade or two later when offenses were truly evolving. He might be significantly more appreciated by Bears fans than he is now. Maybe somebody will break his team record in the near future. Considering it’s stood for 42 years and counting though, it’s best not to hold your breath.
To think Morris accomplished it despite sacrificing three years of his career to other positions is what make it an amazing feat.
