Zippy Morocco, the former University of Georgia two-sport star from the 1950s who died on Sunday, may have been suffering from a post-concussive disease that has been increasingly diagnosed among football players in recent years.
His son, Atlanta businessman Chris Morocco, confirmed that his father’s death was the result of suicide. He also said he believes his father’s depression and the bouts with mental and physical problems he endured later in life could be linked to chronic tramatic encephalopathy, or CTE.
The family intends to donate Morocco’s brain to CTE research. Morocco was 86.
“We’re all a little shocked but at the same time, we know that Dad was in a really, really tough place,” Chris Morocco said during a telephone interview on Monday. “Mental illness is real and it’s something we all deal with. I think we should draw attention. It’s something we’re facing as a society and we’re finally drawing some awareness to it. And I think that’s a good thing.”
CTE is a progressive degenerative disease often found in people who have suffered severe blows to the head or multiple concussions. Morocco played at Georgia in the early 1950s, a period when the game was transitioning from leather helmets unequipped with face masks.
Numerous NFL players who had multiple concussions report having symptoms of the disease and there is an ongoing legal dispute between the league and the NFL Players Association over the acknowledgement of and protection against CTE.
“We believe it was at least a contributing factor,” Chris Morocco said. “Playing in the age that he did (1949-51), where they played with the type of equipment that did, I can’t imagine that it didn’t contribute. That’s one of the reasons we’re dedicating his brain to science. We’re trying to learn more.”
Morocco was also being treated for lymphoma and had recently completed chemotherapy treatment.
A mass will be conducted at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church on Friday at 11 a.m. and a reception will follow at the Athens Country Club.
A native Youngstown, Ohio, Morocco came to Athens in 1949 and, other than a stint playing Canadian football, never left the South. He is considered one of the greatest two-sport athletes ever to play for the Bulldogs.
In football, he ranks third all-time in Georgia history with a punt return average of 14.2 yards. He led the team in kickoff returns three consecutive years and in punt returns two years. He also led UGA receivers in 1950, averaging over 10 yards every time he touched the ball.
In basketball, he became Georgia’s first All-American in 1953 when he set the SEC record for scoring (590 points). He was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1986 and UGA’s Circle of Honor in 2002.
“He really was one of the first two-sport stars we’ve ever had,” said UGA’s Loran Smith, an athletics association fundraiser and resident historian. “He was an All-American in basketball, a slick punt returner and good running halfback in football and just had fluid style of athleticism. He set the SEC scoring record in basketball the same year that Bob Pettit was at LSU.”
After his athletic career, Morocco resettled in Athens and pursued career in the real estate and insurance. He leaves behind his wife Fran, two sons and a daughter.
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