What is Mercury Morris's Net Worth?
Mercury Morris is an American retired professional football player who has a net worth of $250 thousand. Mercury Morris played seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins and one with the San Diego Chargers, first in the AFL and then in the merged AFC. With the Dolphins, he appeared in Super Bowl VI, Super Bowl VII, and Super Bowl VIII, winning the latter two. In 1982, Morris was convicted of felony cocaine trafficking and spent three and a half years in prison before being released through a plea bargain. He had originally been sentenced to 22 years. After being released from prison Mercury Morris became a motivational speaker.
Early Life and High School
Mercury Morris was born as Eugene Morris on January 5, 1947 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was educated at Avonworth High School as an adolescent. For his higher education, Morris went to West Texas State University, where he was an All-American for the Buffaloes football team in both 1967 and 1968. In 1967 he finished second in the nation in rushing yards, behind O.J. Simpson. He set many collegiate records in the latter year, including most rushing yards in a single game, with 340, and most rushing yards in a single season, with 1,571. Morris also set a record for most rushing yards across three college seasons, with 3,388; that record would be snapped two years later by Don McCauley of the University of North Carolina.
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Miami Dolphins
After college, Morris entered the 1969 AFL-NFL common draft and was selected in the third round by the AFL's Miami Dolphins. He went on to back up running back Jim Kiick from 1969 to 1971, and also serve as the primary kickoff return man. In his rookie year, Morris led the AFL in kickoff returns with 43; moreover, his 105-yard return was the AFL's longest that season. Later, in 1971, he helped lead the Dolphins to their first Super Bowl, where they ultimately fell to the Dallas Cowboys. The team performed even better in the 1972 and 1973 seasons, which ended with consecutive victories in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII, respectively. In both of those seasons, Morris had strong performances in the playoffs, leading the Dolphins in rushing in divisional games. His tenure with the team continued through the 1975 season, during which he led the Dolphins in rushing yards with 875.
San Diego Chargers and Retirement
Morris was traded to the San Diego Chargers in 1976. In his first and only season with the team, he ran for 256 yards on 50 carries. Following the end of the season, Morris decided to retire due to lingering injuries from a past game that were exacerbated by a car accident. Overall, across his eight-year professional career, Morris twice finished in the top five of the NFL in rushing touchdowns and once in total touchdowns. Meanwhile, his 5.1 yard-per-carry average ranked third all-time among NFL players.
Other Endeavors
Among his other endeavors beyond the football field, Morris costarred in the 1974 blaxploitation film "The Black Six." He appeared alongside five other NFL players as part of the titular group: the San Francisco 49ers' Gene Washington; the Pittsburgh Steelers' Joe Greene; the Detroit Lions' Lem Barney; the Kansas City Chiefs' Willie Lanier; and the Minnesota Vikings' Carl Eller.
Later in his career, Morris became a motivational speaker. He also appeared alongside former MLB player Wade Boggs in a television commercial for a hair-treatment clinic in 2006.
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Felony Drug Conviction
In 1982, Morris was convicted of felony cocaine trafficking and received a sentence of 22 years in prison. However, after serving three and a half years of the sentence, his conviction was overturned in March of 1986 when it was determined that evidence he had offered to prove he had been entrapped was mistakenly excluded from his original defense. Granted a new trial, Morris managed to reach a plea bargain with the prosecutor and was released in May. Later, he appeared in an anti-cocaine PSA in which he talked about his time spent in prison.
Personal Life
With his third wife Bobbie, whom he married in 1979, Morris has three children.
