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== Amateur career ==
Born in [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]] on January 5, 1947,<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news |title=Mercury Morris, Elusive Rusher on a Perfect Dolphins Team, Dies at 77 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/22/sports/mercury-morris-dead.html |work=The New York Times |author=Alex Traub}}</ref> Morris attended Avonworth High School in the northwestern suburbs of the city. He attended West Texas State University (now [[West Texas A&M University]]) from 1965 to 1969, where he was an [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] for the [[West Texas A&M Buffaloes football|Buffaloes]] at [[Halfback (American football)|tailback]] in [[1967 College Football All-America Team|1967]] and [[1968 College Football All-America Team|1968]]. In 1967, he finished second in the nation to [[O. J. Simpson|O.J. Simpson]] of [[1967 USC Trojans football team|USC]] in rushing yards with 1,274.{{r|Morris_Fiffer|p=44–45}}
In his record setting year of 1968, Morris set collegiate records for rushing yards in a single game, with 340, rushing yards for a single season with 1,571, and rushing yards over a three-year college career (freshmen being ineligible), with 3,388.{{r|Morris_Fiffer|p=44–45}} Simpson broke the single-season rushing record just one week after Morris set it.{{r|Morris_Fiffer|p=44–45}} Morris' three-season career rushing record was broken two years later by [[Don McCauley]].{{r|Morris_Fiffer|p=44–45}}
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