O'Donnell: Johnny Morris a Packer? It was a close call
ONE OF THE MARVELOUS residuals from an NFL draft is the traditions it sustains.
In the Chicago of 2020, that would include things like blasting Ryan Pace, quartering Mitch Trubisky and wondering if the Bears will ever again have a semblance of an effective offensive line.
Those three happinesses aside, under prompting, Johnny Morris recounted a tale all about fate and football fortune:
How he almost was drafted by the Green Bay Packers.
"It was 1958 and I was a small but pretty fast halfback at Cal-Santa Barbara," Ol' No. 47 said.
"The NFL draft was far different from what we've seen this week. It lasted 30 rounds with four in December and the other 26 at the end of January."
Morris - 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds with world-class speed in the 50-yard dash - was making his mark in the "small-college" California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
"My coach was Ed Cody, who had played for Coach (George) Halas a decade or so before and also played for the Packers. He liked his Chicago experience.
"He told 'Papa Bear' about me and Halas told him the Bears would sign me as a free agent after the draft."
All was in place to happen until about three weeks before the January phase.
"I'd had a very solid senior season, including a four-touchdown game - the best of my life - in a California football showcase doubleheader at the L.A. Coliseum before the main event between UCLA and Cal. We played UC-Davis starting at 10 a.m."
After the holidays, the Packers sent Cody a letter saying they were going to draft Morris.
"Cody immediately called 'Papa Bear' and told him of the Packers plan. He also told me I really didn't want to play in Green Bay."
So in the 12th round, No. 137 overall in the 12-team league, the Bears chose the scatback who would prove to be one of the greatest receivers in their history.
And beginning in 1964 - with a morning gig at WBBM-Channel 2 - one of the most impacting sportscasters in the history of Chicago TV.
"A few days into camp at Rensselaer, I thought I was good enough to stick," Morris said.
"The rookies were a mixed lot. The top pick was Chuck Howley, who never got going here and then went on to star in the first wave of Dallas's Super Bowl teams.
"A free agent who got cut was Fuzzy Thurston. He finally made it with the Packers and won five NFL championships with them, including the first two Super Bowls."
Green Bay did well enough in the '58 pickings, drafting three future Hall of Famers - Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke and Jerry Kramer.
And the fellow who wound up as the most famous of them all was an offensive tackle taken in the 21st round by Philadelphia. But he never made it out of the Eagles camp because of bad knees.
Like Morris, he too was a veteran of the CCAA - Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
His name?
John Madden.
Said Morris:
"Just goes to show how much fate and good fortune can play into any NFL life."
STREET-BEATIN': As expected, the NFL is boasting of a record 15.6 million viewers across all platforms for ABC/ESPN-based coverage of the 2020 Draft Thursday night. Joe Burrow, Chase Young and all bested such quality competition as "Superstore," "Man with a Plan" and "Mental Samurai." (Most importantly, the virtual technology was near flawless.) ...
Rumors continue that the Bears will have a first-round selection sometime before Mrs. Virginia McCaskey's 100th birthday in 2023. ...
Interesting to see if Episodes 3 and 4 of "The Last Dance" - ESPN's mammoth Michael Jordan docuseries - jump up from the 6.1 million who watched its debut segments last weekend (Sunday, 8 p.m.). Answer is a bold "probably," with Weeks 3 and 4 plateauing and climactic Week 5 on May 17 peaking. ...
By the end of "TLD," Jerry Krause could become the NBA's first Hall of Fame deduction. (Core fact: Someone was going to generally manage Jordan to NBA championships and almost all this side of Idi Amin could have done it with more grace and sense of history.) ...
The informed legion of Zach LaVine detractors will forever have to deal with the fact that he did defeat the WNBA's Allie Quigley in ESPN'S "NBA HORSE Challenge." (Maybe next he can take on Elliott Harris favorite Paige Spiranac.) ...
Strong rumblings that ESPN could cut more costs and temporarily shut down The SEC Network with The ACC Network not far behind. The Big Ten Network - a joint venture of the conference and Fox - is on a different sort of chopping block. ...
Nominations for the Arlington Million, the Beverly D. and the Secretariat are due May 16. All of which could prove problematic, since parent Churchill Downs Inc. laid off racing secretary Chris Polzin and all affiliated staff at ghost-ridden AP. ...
And Dodgers play-by-play man Charley Steiner (Bradley University, Class of '71), on his new normal: "DoorDash, Netflix and sleeping in." (He could be back at Fredonia and Institute in Peoria doing that.)
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports & Media column appears Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com.