JOE MORRISON
Halfback
No. 40
Cincinnati
"Morrison was the team's Most Valuable Player in three of the past five seasons. He seemed to have slowed down in 1970 but was valuable as a part-time performer. He carried the ball only 11 times but caught 11 passes for 136 yards, an average of 12 yards a catch.
A No. 3 draft choice in 1959, Morrison has played six positions during his 12 years in a Giant uniform: fullback, halfback, tight end, flanker, split end and defensive back. He ranks second in all-time Giants touchdown scoring with 64.
Morrison was born in Lima, Ohio, where he still resides. He's married, has two children, and works for a sports equipment firm in the off-season."
-John Devaney, The Complete Handbook of Pro Football (1971 Edition)
"The Giants' third selection in the 1959 NFL draft, Joe has played six positions during his career in New York- fullback, halfback, tight end, flanker, split end and defensive back- and had two interceptions in his brief role on defense. He has been the Giants' MVP three of the last five years.
One of Cincinnati's all-time great players, Joe set a school mark of 128 points scored and tied another with 21 touchdowns, doubling as a quarterback and halfback.
Joe works for a sports equipment company in the off-season."
-1971 Topps No. 191
BOBBY DUHON
Running Back-Punt Returner
No. 28
Tulane
After missing the entire 1969 season due to a knee injury, Bobby came back last year to average 6.2 yards per rushing attempt in limited duty. His greatest value to New York was as a punt returner as he averaged 8.3 yards per return. On October 11 against the Eagles, Bobby returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown in what would be the Giants' first win of the season after starting with three losses.
Bobby gained over 3,000 yards passing and running as a quarterback in his college days at Tulane. He received AP All-American honorable mention in 1968 and was selected to play in the Senior Bowl, Blue-Gray Game and Coaches All-America Game.
LES SHY
Running Back-Kick Returner
No. 25
Long Beach State
While providing the Giants depth at running back, Les was most useful last year returning kickoffs. He ran back 25 for 544 yards and his 25.9 average was eighth best in the NFC.
Les spent four years with the Cowboys before signing as a free agent with the Giants before last season. His 68-yard run from scrimmage as a rookie in 1966 was the second longest of the year in the NFL.
In his senior year at Long Beach State, Les was an honorable mention small-college All-American. He rushed for 488 yards and seven touchdowns, despite injuries. Les earned three letters as Long Beach lost only three times in three years.
DUHON & SHY: "SPECIAL" DELIVERY
"There are any number of barometers that can be utilized to ajudge the qualities of a professional football player. Determination, toughness, the ability to put forth maximum effort ... these are the trademarks of a winner, the attributes above and beyond the physical prowess to play the game.
Self-sacrifice is another trait found in winners. It is a tough thing, for instance, for a starter to suddenly find himself used only as a kickoff or punt return specialist. But if that player is the type who continues to hustle and produce the all-out effort, then you have yourself a competitor.
Both Bobby Duhon and Les Shy fit neatly into this category.
Duhon had an outstanding rookie year for the Giants in 1968. He won himself a regular slot as a running back after a career as a quarterback at Tulane. During that rookie campaign, Duhon rushed for 362 yards and a 3.6 average, caught 37 passes for 373 yards, scored four touchdowns, and had 1,005 yards total offense, including returns and passing. In 1969, he suffered a knee injury, was operated on and sat out the entire year.
Shy, a product of Long Beach State, spent four years with the Dallas Cowboys as a running back before coming to the Giants just before the start of the 1970 season. Over that span as a key reserve, he had rushed 140 times for 510 yards, a 3.6 average, caught 21 passes for 265 yards and scored four touchdowns.
In 1970, however, there was a need for a rejuvenation of the Giants' special teams. Into that category fall many specialties, and among the key spots are the kickoff and punt return units in general and the kickoff and punt return men in particular.
Shy and Duhon were tapped for those jobs, and consequently received only infrequent playing time as running backs. Neither of them complained ... they just went about their new responsibilities with a zeal and effort which gave them both finishes in the NFC's Top Ten in their categories.
For Duhon, it meant a chance to play, even if not as a regular. Coming off a knee operation is a rugged task for any player, particularly a running back who must cut, change direction and absorb the impact of heavy tackling.
'Certainly, I was hoping to come all the way back and win a starting job,' says the handsome, dark-hair native of Louisiana. 'I still feel that way but, by the same token, if I can help this team by returning punts, then that's my job and I'll still give it one hundred percent effort.'
Duhon, who has a couple of nicknames among his teammates- 'Doobie' and 'Boudreau'- certainly turned in a 100% effort in 1970. He finished the season with 19 punt returns, 13 fair catches, a total of 157 yards for an 8.3 average and had one touchdown return. Those figures gave Duhon a No. 6 finish among the NFC's Top Ten in punt returns. Through most of the season, Duhon ranked in the top three, but he fell off in the final two games.
Being a successful return man does not mean that the practitioner has to be a 9.3 man in the 100. Duhon does not have that kind of speed. The important things for a punt return man are good hands, cutting ability, timing, and the capacity for acceleration at the right moment. Duhon has all of these qualities.
Duhon wasn't exclusively a punt return man in 1970. He also returned 14 kickoffs for an 18.2 average and kept ready in case the call came at running back. In this department, he had 18 carries during the year for 111 yards and a sparkling 6.2 yards-per-carry. His most memorable carry came in Washington where the Giants and the Redskins were locked in a 24-24 tie with less than two minutes left to play. Then, with the Redskins looking for a pass, Duhon exploded a 38-yard run on a draw play into Redskin territory to set up a short-range field goal by Pete Gogolak which produced an important 27-24 triumph.
Duhon had other big moments in key games. In the second win over the Cardinals- another 'must' contest- he caught a 22-yard pass from Tarkenton and then a 17-yarder, both in third-and-long situations, to keep a key touchdown drive perking.
What's in store for Bobby now? The 6-0, 195-pounder realizes that every year will be a battle for him as he vies for that starting role at running back. His competition includes All-NFL star Ron Johnson, the NFC's Comeback of the Year winner Tucker Frederickson, and the fully-recovered Junior Coffey, coming back from an Achilles tendon problem. And then, too, there's Les Shy, who also wants to be a regular running back ... and there's Ernie Koy, who had 704 yards rushing just a couple of seasons ago.
In the meantime, Duhon is a valuable property ... because he can do it all.
The situation is similar for Shy. A 6-1, 195-pounder who was a star running back at Long Beach State for three years, Les was a No. 12 draft choice of the Cowboys in 1966 and made the club as a reserve. This was a noteworthy feat since Shy was competing with the likes of Don Perkins, Dan Reeves, J.D. Smith and Walt Garrison.
Les showed flashes of promise as a rookie with Dallas, rushing 17 times for 118 yards and a solid 6.9 average per attempt. He broke one 68-yard run that season, and also doubled as a kickoff return man.
Perhaps Les figured on a better shot when he came to the Giants prior to the 1970 season ... but,like Duhon, when he received the opportunity to do a job as a kickoff return man, he responded to the challenge and turned in a topnotch effort.
Shy's final total of 21 returns for 544 yards and a 25.9 average ranked him No. 4 among NFC kickoff return men. He didn't break any for the distance, but more often than not, his returns were of sufficient substance to set the offensive team in good field position.
Les came close on two occasions to going the route with a kickoff. Against the Patriots in Boston, he took Gino Cappelletti's opening boot and zipped up the sidelines 47 yards before Cappelletti, the last man between Les and the goal line, bumped him out of bounds.
Les had another long one at Yankee Stadium, taking the second-half kickoff from Buffalo's Grant Guthrie and streaking 62 yards down the sidelines before Guthrie, again the last man, shoved him out of bounds. This return set up a Gogolak field goal.
'Jim Garrett (assistant coach who ran the special teams) really had us believing in ourselves on special teams,' says Shy, 'and certainly I felt that I was contributing to the overall team as a kickoff return man. Yeah, I'd like to play running back, but if I can help the club, I'd do anything they want me to do."
-1971 New York Giants Official Yearbook
No comments:
Post a Comment