Autographs of Earl Morrall
Earl Edwin Morrall (/ˈmɔːrəl/; May 17, 1934 – April 25, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 21 seasons, both a starter and reserve. He was the last remaining player from the 1950s still active in NFL football. He started for six teams, most notably with the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins. He became known as one of the greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history, having served in the capacity for two Hall of Fame quarterbacks in Johnny Unitas and Bob Griese. An injury to Unitas in 1968 saw Morrall step in to start the season that saw the Colts to a 13–1 record (along with an MVP for Morrall) that saw them win their first NFL Championship in nine years before ineffective play in Super Bowl III saw him benched for Unitas. Two years later, in Super Bowl V, Morrall came off the bench for an injured Unitas and kept the Colts in the game before they ultimately won on a last-second field goal. In his first season with Miami in 1972, he came off the bench when Griese became injured early in the year, with Morrall winning all nine starts; Morrall started the first two playoff games, with Griese playing in each game before being named the starter for Super Bowl VII, where the Dolphins completed the only perfect season in NFL history.
Morrall led Muskegon High School in Muskegon, Michigan to a state football championship in 1951 and state baseball championship in 1952 (where he stole home). He attended Michigan State University, where he played under head coaches Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty. He played three seasons for the Michigan State Spartans football team, leading them to a 9–1 record in the 1955 season. He capped his senior year with a victory over the UCLA Bruins in the 1956 Rose Bowl. Morrall also played baseball at Michigan State and played in the College World Series as a shortstop and third baseman. He was offered the opportunity to play professional baseball but chose instead to play football.
In his more than two decades on the professional gridiron, Morrall played for six different teams, starting with his rookie year in 1956 as a first-round selection by the San Francisco 49ers, the second overall pick in the draft. He made appearances in the first four games before being slated to start the fifth game of the year on October 28. He went 7-of-12 for 148 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He started the next three games before appearing sporadically in two further games. In total, he went 38-of-78 with 621 passing yards with a touchdown and six interceptions. On the punting side, he kicked 45 of them for 1,705 yards (he would make occasional appearances as punter in seven seasons to total 106 for 3,995 yards with one block). On September 16, 1957, he was traded along with guard Mike Sandusky to the Pittsburgh Steelers in exchange for linebacker Marv Matuszak and two first-round draft picks. He would appear all twelve games that year for the Steelers (with eleven starts), helping them to a 6–6 record while throwing for 1,900 yards with eleven touchdowns to twelve interceptions. Despite the high cost of the transaction, the Steelers traded him just over a year later to the Detroit Lions in order to obtain future Hall of Famer Bobby Layne. He started the first two games of the 1958 season (both losses) before being traded to the Detroit Lions, for which he would appear sporadically in six games. Morrall was with the Lions for the next six years, having his best season in 1963 by throwing for 24 touchdowns and more than 2,600 yards. The following year, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in an October 18 contest against the Chicago Bears.
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Current items with a signature of Earl Morrall
These are the most current items with a signature of Earl Morrall that were listed on eBay and on other online stores - click here for more items.
Traded items with a signature of Earl Morrall
The most expensive item with a signature of Earl Morrall (Earl Morrall Signed Baltimore Colts 16x20 (Super Bowl V) Photo JSA (AS17753)) was sold in March 2026 for £204.00 while the cheapest item (Earl Morrall Hand Signed Sports Illustrated Magazine Cover 1968) found a new owner for £13.26 in June 2025. The month with the most items sold (14) was May 2025 with an average selling price of £35.33 for an autographed item of Earl Morrall. Sold items reached their highest average selling price in January 2026 with £107.20 and the month that saw the lowest prices with £19.77 was September 2025. In average, an autographed item from Earl Morrall is worth £44.51.
Most recently, these items with a signature of Earl Morrall were sold on eBay - click here for more items.
