Jeannie Morris was a pioneering sportscaster who became the first woman to report live from a Super Bowl, at 1975’s Super Bowl IX.
- Died: December 14, 2020 (Who else died on December 14?)
- Details of death: Died in Chicago at the age of 85.
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Trailblazing career
Morris began working in sports journalism in the 1960s, writing for the Chicago Daily News and Chicago’s American. The then-wife of Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Morris, she wrote her early columns under the byline “Mrs. Johnny Morris.” She moved to sports broadcasting at Chicago’s WMAQ and WBBM TV stations, continuing for decades. Morris often found she had to argue with men to get the access she needed, in press boxes, on the field, and in locker rooms. On one memorable occasion, as she covered a Bears-Vikings game with a press box that explicitly barred women and children from entering, she reported from the box’s roof in a blizzard. Morris was honored with 11 Emmy Awards, and in 2014, she became the first woman to win the Ring Lardner Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism.
Notable quote
“Athletes generally are closer to their mothers. They’ll tell me things they’d never dream of telling a man.” —from an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times
Tributes to Jeannie Morris
Full obituary: The Chicago Sun-Times
