Morris blazed trail with grace
Despite dealing with a high level of sexism during the 1970s, Chicago sports media pioneer never showed any bitterness
None of JeannieMorris’ obituaries mentioned theweekly local showshe did with Alex Karras in
1972 for Chicago’s ABC-7 to complement “MondayNight Football” telecasts. Maybe with good reason. “Itwas theworst thing I’ve ever been involved in,” Morris, a pioneeringwoman in sports media who diedMonday at 85, told the Tribune a few years after the showaired.
Karraswasn’t yet a big TV star when he was paired withMorris. His NFL playing career had ended after the 1970 season, and hewas a reliably entertaining talkshowguest.
There had been a few bit parts for him in Hollywood, but his full-time acting career hadn’t yet blossomed. His stint as a droll “MNF” analystwas a couple of years away.
It’s possible Karraswas misled into thinking he had a greater role in the Channel 7 show, both behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, than he actually did.
We’ll also allowthat the future sitcom star of“Webster” mightwell have evolved before he died in 2012.
But the pictureMorris painted from memorywas not a pretty one.
“They hired me without consulting Alex, and Alexwas furious,” Morris said. “Hewas absolutely livid.
“I mean, the most dignified position he wants to see awoman in is on his lap. And there Iwas, right next to him— his equal. He didn’t dig that.”
Ouch.
“Actually,” Morris said, “Alex is a funny man. He’s sort of the male equivalent of the dumb blonde. You’ve got to be pretty smart to act so stupid and still be funny.”
Ouch again, even if thatwas veiled in something resembling a compliment.
What makes her experience with and comments about Karrasworth revisiting is itwas a rare instance ofMorris venting about the barriers and boors she ran up against in a career of not just breaking news but breaking new ground forwomen covering sports.
Working first in print, beginning in the late 1960s, and then TV, the pushback had to haveworn onMorris.
For the public, however, her steely resolvewas cloaked in charm. If her teeth were clenched, itwas hidden behind a smile. No one intimidated her.
She stood her ground with utter grace. WhenMorris, on assignment for the ChicagoDailyNews in 1970, wrote about being denied access to the Indianapolis 500 time trials solely because she lacked a Y chromosome—“Sorry, lady”— she shared frustration without anger.
Morris often spoke matter-of-factly about the time shewas made to sit on top of the press box in a Minnesota blizzard to cover a Bears road game because her press credential specifically barred “women and children” from where the media menworked.
“Thatwasn’t much fun, but it makes for a good story,” Morris recalled without a trace of resentment in a video the Chicago Bears produced. “It’s a good illustration of howitwas back in the day.”
Whoamong uswouldn’t rage at the memory?
It doesn’t take much imagination to envision the braying martinet whowould enforce such nonsense. There remains a fair number of yahoos who have a hissy fit whenwomen get a byline or microphone to discuss sports.
Morris always recognized what shewas up against and knew howhard she had to work to be credible and accepted amid such resistance. You had to be better to endure.
“Awoman doing sports on TV can’t ever appear to be dumb,” she said in one interview.
In another, Morris voiced concern around the time former CBS-2 general manager BobWussler, then head of CBS Sports, hired Phyllis George, a former Miss America with limited TV experience, for “The NFL Today” and “CBS Sports Spectacular.”
“If IwereWussler,” Morris said, “I would be very careful about howI used women. It’s not that I don’t think it’s right and just. But you have to take into account the viewer reaction.”
Morris enjoyed her own national exposurewith CBS, much as she had withNBC, which in 1975 made her the firstwoman to report on a Super Bowl pregame show.
“Jeannie is a rarewoman, and the real test is that she’s been accepted by other sportswriters,” said JohnnyMorris, Jeannie’s onetime husband and a former Bears player.
Her entree to sports journalism at age 32 had been Johnny, who parlayed being an undersized Bears receiver into a huge media career of his own. The now-defunct Chicago American (which later became Chicago Today before folding) dangled $50 aweek for him to write a column in 1968.
Johnny said hewasn’t much of a writer and suggested Jeannie, who initially penned pieces about football in a femaleoriented section and then the sports section. Eventually, she tackled other sports andmoved to theDailyNews.
Johnny and Jeanniewouldwork together atNBC-5. He anchored sportscasts. She handled human-interest stuff.
When BrentMusburger left CBS-2 for full-time networkwork in 1975, theMorrises both came aboard and bumped up their combined pay from$90,000 to $150,000—$110,000 for him and $40,000 for her.
Mostly, Jeannie traded in features. But give her something meaty and shewould whip it into something special.
Type in “JeannieMorris” on YouTube. You’ll find a multipart series she did for CBS-2 on the ethics of giving racehorses medications.
There’s also a pair of short Channel 2 documentaries on Michael Jordan’s early days with the Bulls thatwere mined as source material for ESPN’s “The Last Dance.”
Contrary to what many might believe, her 1971 best-seller, “Brian Piccolo: A Short Season,” did not inspire the famous madefor-TVmovie “Brian’s Song” about the dying Bears running back who roomed with Gale Sayers andwas a teammate of Johnny’s. Her book came out not long before ABC aired the film, whichwas based on a chapter in Sayers’ memoir, “I AmThird.”
“A Short Season” started as a collaboration with Piccolo to give him something to do while being treated for cancer and is a powerful and thorough telling of his story wellworth reading.
(Incidentally, it has been a rough stretch of late for writers connected to “Brian’s Song.” Sayers died in September at 77, and
William Blinn, the film’s screenwriter, died in October at 83. Al Silverman, Sayers’ co-author on “IAmThird,” died last year at 92.)
Seventeen years after the book’s publication, in 1988, Morris came across a 1967 photo of herself and five other Bears wives at a fashion show. In “Awakening fromthe AmericanDream” for Chicago Times magazine, Morris reflected on hownone was married to a football player anymore. Joy Piccolo and Kathy Raboldwere widows. Linda Sayers, Angela Cadile and Faith Petitbon, aswell asMorris, were divorced.
By then, Morris had left CBS-2 to become an independent producer. Some projects involved sports. Others did not.
For 20 years she had been an inspiration for youngwomen who might not otherwise have entertained the idea of covering sports. That, along with herwork and the trail she blazed, are her professional legacy.
It’s unfortunate there aren’t morewomen on the air today followingMorris’ footsteps. But progress can be maddeningly slowand doesn’t always travel a straight line.
It’s a good story and JeannieMorris is still part of it, even if she isn’t around to tell it better than anyone else.