College Football and Cal Athletics Hall of Fame quarterback Craig Morton died Saturday in Mill Valley at the age of 83 his family confirmed. Morton played three seasons at California (1962-64) before being selected by Dallas with the No. 5 overall pick in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft. He went on to play 18 NFL campaigns from 1965-82 with Dallas (1965-73), the New York Giants (1974-76) and Denver (1977-82).

Morton earned All-American recognition from numerous sources and was seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting as a 1964 senior at Cal when he was also named All-West Coast and All-AAWU, in addition to being named the winner of the Pop Warner Award given to the most valuable senior football player on the West Coast. Morton set then-Pac-8 records in completions (185), pass attempts (308) and passing yardage (2,121) with the latter also leading the nation. Morton, who arrived in Berkeley in 1961 after being a three-sport standout in baseball, basketball and football at Campbell High School in the South Bay, was also a starter and the Northern California Back of the Year during each of his final three campaigns. He finished his collegiate career with then-Pac-8 and Cal records of 4,501 yards passing and 36 touchdown tosses. He led the AAU in passing as both a 1963 junior and 1964. Morton was also a member of the California baseball team.

Morton's 18-year NFL career was highlighted by being the league's first starting quarterback to appear in the Super Bowl with two different franchises, leading the Cowboys to Super Bowl V following the 1971 campaign and the Broncos to Super Bowl XII after the 1978 season. He was also a member of the 1976 Dallas team that won Super Bowl VI after the 1971 campaign but did not play in the contest. In 1977, Morton was second in the league's MVP voting and won a slew of awards, including Sporting News Player of the Year, NFL UPI MVP, NFL Comeback Player of the Year and ACC Offensive Player of the Year while adding All-ACC recognition when he had his most productive season in his 17th NFL campaign at the age of 38, completing 225-of-374 passes for 3,195 yards (all career highs) with a career-high-tying 21 touchdowns. Morton played in a total of 207 NFL games with 144 starts, completing 2053-of-3786 passes for 27,908 yards with 183 touchdowns. He finished with a quarterback record of 81-62-1.

Morton is also a member of the Colorado and San Jose Sports Halls of Fame, as well as the Denver Broncos' Ring of Fame.

After his playing career, Morton had stints as a coach with both the Broncos and the Denver Gold of the USFL. He was also heavily involved with his alma mater, working in the Cal Athletics development office until his retirement in 2017. In 2019, he was honored with Cal's Glenn Seaborg Award presented annually to a former Cal football player for his career accomplishments, who represents the honored Cal principles and traditions of excellence in academics, athletics, leadership and attitude.