He’s Become a Little Survivor in Land of Giants : Joe Morris, 5-7 and 195, Has Run Up Some Pretty Big Numbers This Season

In a world laced with Giants, he is Jack clinging to his beanstalk.

You may not have heard much about him or his doings this year, but that’s not his fault. Chalk it up to a season consumed by that 308-pound, gap-toothed “Refrigerator” character in Chicago.

This guy’s name is Joe Morris, merely a “Freezer” at 5-7 and 195 pounds. But his season, his accomplishments and the records he has set running the ball for the New York Giants are not proportionate. After three years as LMOG (Little Man on Giants), Morris is now rubbing elbows with the legends -- Frank Gifford, Alex Webster, Joe Morrison.

Morris’ reaction to a season in which he has gained 1,054 yards on 237 carries, scored a league-leading 17 touchdowns and become an important part of New York’s attack is subdued.

“I’m the same guy,” said Morris, who brings those numbers to Texas Stadium against the Cowboys at today. “I still come in on Monday and get a workout.”

Sure, why not? Morris has been here before. At Syracuse, he wiped out school records set by Jim Brown, Larry Csonka and Floyd Little. Nobody ever believed Morris, who finished with 4,229 career yards for the Orangemen, could do that.

But when you’re short, someone is always telling you, “You’re too short.” Joseph Morris, born an Army brat in Ft. Bragg, N.C., has been told that for 25 years. When he came to the Giants as a second-round draft choice behind Butch Woolfolk in 1982, the NFL said the same thing for three years.

“It starts every year at training camp,” Morris said.

In Houston last Sunday, the Oilers didn’t seem to notice Morris’ size. They did notice his three touchdowns and 129 yards. Morris’ fifth 100-yard game in his last seven made him only the second Giants running back in the team’s 60-year history (Ron Johnson was the other in 1970 and 1972) to gain 1,000 yards in a season.

Morris, who has scored 14 touchdowns in his last seven games, needs only 128 yards to pass Johnson’s single-season mark of 1,182.

After the the 35-14 victory in Houston, the Giants gave Morris a standing ovation in the locker room. And just so everyone could see Little Joe, they made him stand on a bench.

“Joe’s a stud,” quarterback Phil Simms said. “He runs like he is huge. He’s got speed.”

Cowboys Coach Tom Landry said of Morris, “He looks pretty big when he has the ball in his hands. And he’s pretty fast, too.”

Just for the record:

--He is the first Giant to gain 100 yards in five games in a single season.

--The next touchdown he scores will break a Giants record set by Gene “Choo Choo” Roberts in 1949.

--The 17 rushing touchdowns he has scored broke Bill Pachal’s 1943 mark (10).

“But you don’t sit back and reflect on accomplishments during the season,” Morris said. “You know when you’re doing well and playing well.”

What Morris doesn’t do, at least not comfortably, is talk about himself.

After gaining 132 yards against Tampa Bay -- his second consecutive 100-yard game -- Morris had the clubhouse attendant bring his clothes to the training room. Morris slipped out a side door without talking to the media.

He had almost nothing to say last week in Houston.

“I’m not going to answer any questions,” said Morris, who has gained 717 yards in his last seven games. “I’m just going to make a statement.”

He thanked nearly everyone affiliated with the Giants.

“That’s just the way I am,” he said. “I try to keep a low profile and do what I have to do.”

It wasn’t hard for Morris to keep a low profile over the last 2 1-2 seasons. He played very little the first two years, carrying the ball 50 times while caddying for Woolfolk.

People said he couldn’t play. They said he was too short. “Same at college,” said Morris.

He got his chance halfway through last season when the Giants benched Woolfolk and said, ‘OK, Joe, what can you do?’ Morris responded with 510 yards in eight starts. The Giants were impressed enough to trade Woolfolk to Houston before the 1985 season.

“I saw it as an opportunity to play,” said Morris, who was a close friend of Woolfolk’s when they were teammates. “But I didn’t feel any pressure. I knew I was going to get the opportunity. I was more relaxed and I started playing better.”

The Giants, suddenly equipped with a running game, started playing better, too. They also started winning. The Giants are 9-2 in games in which they’ve rushed for more than 100 yards.

“But I’m not going to sit around saying, ‘Hey, I’ve arrived,’ ” Morris said. “I don’t want it that way. I want it to be a struggle every week. I got to come back every week with that attitude. Nothing in this game has ever come easy to me. It’s always come the hard way.

“It took me a long time to get a chance to play here, a long time for someone to believe I could do it on a consistent basis, a long time for me to believe in what I could do. But I was able to survive.”

Morris has more than survived as a little guy in the land of the Giants.

Distributed by the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service.