DALLAS – Craig Morton, the quarterback who started for the Dallas Cowboys and later led the Denver Broncos to a Super Bowl, died Monday at 83. This piece traces his path from being drafted in 1965 to starting for Dallas in 1969, throwing the Cowboys’ first Super Bowl touchdown, losing to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V, moving on to the New York Giants, and later steering the Broncos to Super Bowl XII against his old team.
Craig Morton’s name is stitched into a couple of franchise histories, and he arrived in Dallas as a draftee in 1965 before becoming the starter in 1969. He carried the Cowboys into the national spotlight during the 1970 season and marched them to Super Bowl V in Miami. That game ended in a tight 16-13 loss to the Baltimore Colts, but Morton left his mark by throwing the first Super Bowl touchdown pass in Cowboys history.
Being the quarterback who hands the offense its identity is never simple, and Morton’s run with Dallas was a mix of promise and pressure. He was ultimately displaced as the starter by Roger Staubach, a future Hall of Famer, which sent Morton down a new road. In 1974 he was traded to the New York Giants, a move that reset his career but did not define it.
Morton’s time in New York bridged a journeyman phase and a comeback that few foresaw when he left Dallas. He later landed with the Denver Broncos, where his veteran presence mattered in a different way than it had in Dallas. With the Broncos he guided an offense that earned a trip to Super Bowl XII, a matchup that pitted him against the very team he’d once led.
Super Bowl XII in New Orleans was a stark contrast to his earlier title game. The Cowboys’ Doomsday Defense smothered Morton and the Broncos, delivering a 27-10 loss and a reminder of how matchups and timing shape careers. Still, reaching two Super Bowls with different teams is a rare résumé item that highlights Morton’s longevity and adaptability as a pro quarterback.
Morton wrapped up his NFL playing days after the 1982 season with 27,908 career passing yards to his name. That total reflects steady production across years and teams rather than a single superstar peak. For fans who followed him in Dallas, New York, or Denver, those yards were part of a larger story about resilience and professional reinvention.
His influence wasn’t only statistical. Morton’s role in franchise moments, like delivering the Cowboys’ first Super Bowl touchdown pass, left a tangible footprint in team lore. That single throw became part of the Cowboys narrative the way key plays often become shorthand for eras in football history. Players who touch those moments stay in memory longer than the play clock.
Off the field, Morton’s career movement illustrated the shifting nature of NFL rosters in the 1970s and early 1980s, when veterans often moved to new cities and systems. He experienced the highs of leading teams to title games and the lows of being replaced and traded, a pattern familiar to many NFL quarterbacks. Through it all he remained a recognizable name to multiple fan bases.
Craig Morton’s death Monday at 83 closes a chapter for a player who played pivotal roles for three franchises and who stands out in Cowboys and Broncos histories. His path from a 1965 draftee to a two-time Super Bowl starter shows how careers can bend and then reassert themselves. For those who watched him, Morton’s legacy will be the combination of big-game moments, steady work over time, and the rare feat of facing a former team on football’s biggest stage.
