They met that chilly Sunday afternoon as they usually did. For the four men, ranging in age from mid-30s to early 50s, Sundays meant racquetball on the courts beneath Williams-Brice Stadium — intense “ex-jock” games that included jokes and laughter.
It always was the former USC players, attorney Ed “Punky” Holler and businessman Ken Wheat, against the coaches, defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn and his boss, Joe Morrison. The coaches usually won — “when we finally beat them one time, Joe put the score up on the (stadium) marquee,” Holler said — but the camaraderie was what counted.
Afterward, Morrison, who had been suffering from flu symptoms, kept sweating after the others had cooled down. His friends suggested the coach, who had a history of heart trouble, check with a team trainer. Morrison, though, wanted to take a shower first.
“He looked bad,” said Dunn, who was Morrison’s closest friend, almost a younger brother. “I went to call an ambulance. Then Joe started making all kinds of sounds. When I pulled the shower curtain back, he was stiff as a board, blue from waist to head.”
Teddy Heffner, then a reporter for The State who had befriended the coach, heard a police-scanner report of an ambulance at the stadium. At Providence Hospital, he saw Dunn waiting.
“Is (Morrison) OK?” Heffner asked.
“No. He’s not,” Dunn replied.
Morrison, 51, was pronounced dead at 9:03 p.m. on Feb. 5, 1989. On hand were Holler and Wheat, Morrison’s wife, JeVena, and athletics director King Dixon
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