{"id":638,"date":"2026-05-12T13:03:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:03:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=638"},"modified":"2026-05-12T13:03:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T13:03:37","slug":"craig-morton-who-became-the-first-quarterback-to-start-super-bowl-for-two-franchises-dies-at-83","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=638","title":{"rendered":"Craig Morton, who became the first quarterback to start Super Bowl for two franchises, dies at 83"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>DENVER<\/strong>  |  Craig Morton, who spent 18 years in the NFL and became the first quarterback to start the Super Bowl for two franchises \u2014 the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos \u2014 has died. He was 83.<\/p>\n<p>Morton died Saturday in Mill Valley, California, the Broncos confirmed through his family.<\/p>\n<p>Morton is one of only four QBs to start the NFL\u2019s biggest game with two organizations. The other three \u2014 Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Kurt Warner \u2014 all ended up with at least one win. Morton\u2019s only Super Bowl ring came as a backup.<\/p>\n<p>His first Super Bowl start was in a turnover-plagued Super Bowl V to end the 1970 season \u2014 a 16-13 loss by the Cowboys to the Colts. Morton threw the Cowboys\u2019 first touchdown pass in a title game.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Seven years later, and after an unsuccessful stint with the New York Giants, Morton led the Broncos to a matchup against his former team. He threw for 39 yards and four interceptions before getting pulled for Norris Weese in a 27-10 loss, which marked the first of four straight Super Bowl defeats for Denver.<\/p>\n<p>Known for his strong arm, Morton turned in a college football Hall of Fame career at California, where he played for coach Marv Levy and assistant Bill Walsh. Morton went fifth in the 1965 NFL draft to the Cowboys. Oakland also took him in the 10th round of the AFL draft.<\/p>\n<p>He joined a Cowboys team coached by Tom Landry that had veteran Don Meredith at QB. Morton played in four games that season. He then split time with up-and-coming Roger Staubach in 1970-71, the year the Cowboys went to their first Super Bowl.<\/p>\n<p>The next season, Morton and Staubach also split time \u2014 at some points, even alternating every play. But ultimately, it was Staubach who took over the starting job, then led the Cowboys to the Super Bowl and a 24-3 win over Miami. Staubach was the MVP of that game and it wasn\u2019t hard to imagine the end of Morton\u2019s time in Dallas.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys dealt their backup to the Giants in 1974 for a package that included a pick Dallas would use to take defensive lineman Randy White, who became a Super Bowl MVP and Pro Football Hall of Famer.<\/p>\n<p>Morton struggled in New York, but enjoyed a renaissance after getting traded to Denver before the 1977 season \u2014 the season that put the Broncos on the map.<\/p>\n<p>The veteran QB became the final piece for a Broncos team under a new coach, Red Miller, who inherited a strong defense that would become known as the Orange Crush.<\/p>\n<p>Morton led the Broncos to a 12-2 record and playoff wins over the Steelers and Raiders. He famously spent the week in the hospital with a hip injury before spearheading the win over rival Oakland.<\/p>\n<p>Four years later \u2014 and after the Broncos had toyed unsuccessfully with finding his replacement \u2014 Morton teamed with a new coach, his former Cowboys teammate Dan Reeves. In 1981, Morton threw for 3,195 yards and 21 TDs, both career highs (he matched his best mark in TDs).<\/p>\n<p>He retired after starting three games in the strike-shortened 1982 season. Denver would trade for John Elway, who supplanted Morton as the franchise\u2019s most famous and revered No. 7.<\/p>\n<p>Morton threw for 27,908 yards over his career with 183 touchdowns and 187 interceptions. Morton ranked in the top 20 all-time in yards passing and TD passes when he retired following the 1982 season.<\/p>\n<p>He was voted into the Broncos\u2019 Ring of Fame in 1988, along with two other standouts from that \u201977 team \u2014 Haven Moses and Jim Turner.<\/p>\n<p>AP National Writer Eddie Pells and AP Pro Football Writer Josh Dubow contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p>AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/NFL<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=632\">Eurovision song competition starts with the first semifinal after boycott over Israel<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=634\">Supreme Court halts order for Alabama to use US House map with 2 largely Black districts<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=636\">Trump says he\u2019ll move to suspend federal gasoline tax. He can\u2019t do it on his own<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DENVER | Craig Morton, who spent 18 years in the NFL and became the first quarterback to start the Super Bowl for two franchises \u2014 the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos \u2014 has died. He was 83. Morton died Saturday in Mill Valley, California, the Broncos confirmed through his family. Morton is one of only [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[367],"tags":[812,813,814,815,816,817],"class_list":["post-638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pro","tag-craig-morton","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-denver-broncos","tag-john-elway","tag-peyton-manning","tag-roger-staubach"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Craig Morton, who became the first quarterback to start Super Bowl for two franchises, dies at 83 - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=638\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Craig Morton, who became the first quarterback to start Super Bowl for two franchises, dies at 83 - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DENVER | Craig Morton, who spent 18 years in the NFL and became the first quarterback to start the Super Bowl for two franchises \u2014 the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos \u2014 has died. 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