A week away from being admitted to the National College Football Hall of Fame, former Browns tight end Milt Morin died of a heart attack.
Powerful enough to handle blocking assignments like carving out room for Bo Scott in 1971 and nimble enough to grab a Bill Nelsen pass, Milt Morin (89) was a reliable tight end for the Browns for 10 years. He died last week in Massachusetts.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- "Oh, no. I just voted for him for the College Football Hall of Fame!"
Those were the first words from former Browns star Paul Wiggin, after learning Milt Morin had died of a heart attack over the weekend.
Morin was the Browns' first-round pick in 1966, and played 10 years for the team. He was set to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame this weekend.
Wiggin said he had been voting for Morin for years, and urging some others who had votes to take a look at what the tight end did at the University of Massachusetts.
"He was a complete player, a proto-type tight end," said Wiggin. "Back then, they had 240-pound tight ends who couldn't catch the ball, and 200-pounders who couldn't block. Milt did both."
He did it well enough to make two Pro Bowls with the Browns. He was 6-foot-4 and 236 pounds, agile and aggressive.
In 129 games over 10 seasons, Milt Morin caught 271 passes and scored 16 touchdowns for the Browns."He could have played tight end in this era," said Paul Warfield, recently retiring as a Browns consultant. "He'd be worth his weight in gold because most teams have a tight end who can catch, or a tight end who can block. Milt was such a good blocker, we ran Leroy Kelly's sweeps around his end. He could run precise patterns, and he could blow you off the ball with his blocks."
Warfield paused, remembering Morin for their four years together with the Browns.
"He came back from a very serious back injury that required surgery," said the Hall of Fame receiver. "He was just a great teammate, a big fellow, a wonderful guy."
Morin was 67 when he died Friday at Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton, Mass. Before retiring in 2003, he spent 15 years as a corrections officer in Hampshire County. Sheriff Robert Garvey raved about Morin to the Hampshire Gazette: "He had the respect of his colleagues as well as the inmates. You would think someone with his background would be just a tough guy, but he was a gentle man, tremendously understanding of people who were incarcerated."
Former Browns defensive end Bill Glass said he "had lost track" of Morin, but is not surprised that his former teammate became an effective corrections officer.
"Milt was just good with people," said Glass, who has spent nearly 40 years doing prison ministry. "He was very fair-minded, an impeccable guy. I loved to make fun of his New England accent, and he got a kick out of me being from Texas."
Wiggin added, "One day, we were at a place where Milt order a frappe. We looked at him strange, and he said it was like a milk shake. I'm from California, and I thought I knew everything. Never heard of a frappe."
"You could count on him to be where he's supposed to be," said Browns QB Bill Nelsen of Milt Morin. "He was a big target to throw to." Added Paul Warfield, "He was just a great teammate, a big fellow, a wonderful guy."The Browns of Morin's era never made much money. They needed careers after football, be it Warfield and Wiggin working for NFL teams, or Glass in ministry. Morin never made more than $65,000 a year as a pro. He mostly worked the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at the local jail.
In addition to his law enforcement work, Morin was a carpenter. He owned an antique store for a while.
One obituary said he met his wife, Ellen, while working as a bouncer at a bar on Cape Cod. They were wed when he was a senior at UMass and remained married for 44 years. In college, Morin lettered in lacrosse and was an outstanding wrestler, in addition to playing tight end and serving as the kicker.
"Money is nice, but money doesn't mean anything compared to ... relationships," Morin said in a 1993 interview. "I've just had the greatest in the world."
Morin caught 271 passes in his Browns career, many of them from Bill Nelsen -- the starting quarterback from 1968-71, when the Browns were 34-15-1 when he played.
"Milt died?" said Nelsen. "I'm afraid to answer the phone or pick up a newspaper. So many are not with us."
On the phone from Orlando, Nelsen's voice cracked as he said, "Such a nice guy. You could count on him to be where he's supposed to be. He was a big target to throw to. We had so many good guys on those teams, and it's a shame to keep losing them."