Mercury Morris Eugene Edward " Mercury " Morris ( born January 5 , 1947 ) , is a former American football player , nicknamed early on for his mercurial quickness when running with the ball . Morris was a running back and kick returner for seven years , playing mostly for the Miami Dolphins ( at first , in the American Football League , then , in the American Football Conference following the 1969 merger with the NFL ) . Morris played in three Super Bowl s and was selected to three Pro Bowl s . In 1982 , Morris was convicted of felony drug trafficking charges . After 3 and a half years in prison , Morris was released after a plea agreement in which he pled no contest to cocaine conspiracy charges Amateur career . Morris was born in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , and attended Avonworth High School in the northwestern part of the city . Morris attended West Texas State University ( now known as West Texas A & M University ) from 1965 to 1969 , where he was an All - America n at tailback in 1967 and 1968 . In 1967 , he finished 2nd in the nation to O . J . Simpson in rushing yards with 1274 . In his stellar year of 1968 , he set collegiate records for rushing yards in a single game , with 340 , rushing yards for a single season , with 1571 , and rushing yards over a 3 year college career ( freshmen being ineligible ) , with 3388 . However , O . J . Simpson broke the single - season rushing just the week after Morris set it . And , the three - season career rushing record was broken only 2 years later by Don McCauley . After college , Morris was picked in the third round of the 1969 AFL - NFL Common Draft by the AFL ' s Miami Dolphins . Pro Football career . Early career . Morris excelled as both a running back and kick returner . The majority of his playing days were spent with the Miami Dolphins . From 1969 to 1971 , he backed up Jim Kiick at halfback and served as the Dolphins ' primary kickoff return man . In his rookie year of 1969 , Morris had averaged 26 . 4 yards per kickoff return , leading the AFL in kickoff returns with 43 and in kickoff return yardage with 1136 . Both totals would have also led the NFL . His 105 - yard return was the longest in the AFL that season , and he was also one of the AFL ' s leading punt return ers that year . In 1970 , he missed some time to a leg injury , but his 6 . 8 yard per carry average on 60 runs was the highest in the league among players with at least 50 runs . Super Bowl years . In 1971 , despite being unhappy with his minimal playing time as backup halfback , he helped the Dolphins to their first Super Bowl , Super Bowl VI by leading the American Football Conference ( AFC ) with a 28 . 2 yard kickoff return average . During the regular season , Morris also made the most of his opportunities at running back , gaining 315 rushing yards on 57 carries for a 5 . 5 yard average , an average that would have led the NFL had he enough carries to qualify . That season , Morris was selected for the Pro Bowl for the first time as a kick returner , although he also was used as a running back in the game . In the 1972 and 1973 seasons , Morris earned Super Bowl rings in Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII , and was selected for the Pro Bowl in both years . In 1972 , Morris shared the halfback position with Kiick , participating in a few less plays than Kiick , but having more carries as a running back . That year , he ran for exactly 1 , 000 yds on 190 carries , becoming , with teammate Larry Csonka , the first 1 , 000 - yard tandem in NFL history . Morris was first thought to have finished with 991 yards , but the Dolphins ' management asked the league to examine a play in which Morris fumbled a lateral : Morris was awarded the nine yards previously recorded as lost on the play , giving him 1 , 000 yards for the season . That year , Morris also led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdown s , and his 5 . 3 yard per carry average was 3rd in the NFL . By 1973 , Morris had taken over the starting halfback spot and rushed for 954 yards on 149 carries , despite playing with a neck injury late in the season . His 6 . 4 yard per carry average led the NFL that season , and he finished 3rd in the NFL in rushing touchdowns . Although Morris ' Super Bowl statistics pale in comparison with teammate Larry Csonka , he excelled in several playoff games leading up to Miami ' s two Super Bowl championships . In 1972 he led the Dolphins in rushing in both the divisional playoff game against Cleveland and the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh with 72 yards and 76 yards respectively . In 1973 , he led the Dolphins in rushing for the divisional playoff game against Cincinnati with 106 yards , and added 86 more rushing yards in the AFC Championship Game against Oakland . Late career . Morris continued playing for the Dolphins in 1974 and 1975 , before spending the last season of his shortened career playing for the San Diego Chargers in 1976 . In 1974 , he was limited to playing just 5 games due to a knee injury suffered in a pre - season exhibition game . In 1975 he led the Dolphins in rushing yards with 875 despite sharing the halfback position with Benny Malone . After being traded to San Diego before the 1976 season , he ran for 256 yards on only 50 carries that year and decided to retire after the season , in part due to lingering difficulties from the neck injury suffered in 1973 . Morris finished in the top five of the NFL in rushing touchdowns twice and total touchdowns once during his eight - year career . His career 5 . 1 yard per carry average is 3rd all time among NFL players ( 2nd among running backs and 1st among halfbacks ) with at least 750 rushing attempts , behind quarterback Randall Cunningham and fullback Jim Brown . His career kickoff return average of 26 . 5 is among the all - time top 10 for players with at least 100 returns . Non - Football activities . In 1974 , Morris co - starred as Bookie Garrett in the blaxploitation film " The Black Six " alongside other football stars of the day . In 1982 , Morris was convicted of cocaine trafficking . He was sentenced to twenty years imprisonment , with a mandatory fifteen - year term . On March 6 , 1986 , his conviction was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court because evidence Morris had offered to prove his entrapment defense had been excluded under a mistaken characterization as hearsay . Morris was granted a new trial . He was able to reach a plea bargain with the prosecutor , resulting in his release from prison May 23 , 1986 , after having served three years . He later went on to a career as a motivational speaker . Towards the end of 2006 , he was in a television commercial spot for a hair - treatment clinic , along with Wade Boggs .