Jon Morris, a longtime center who helped lay the groundwork for the New England Patriots during their formative years, died Thursday at age 84.

The Patriots announced the news, and an obituary confirmed he passed following a long battle with dementia at a health center in Meredith, New Hampshire.

“Jon Morris was one of the great players who helped build the foundation of our franchise,” Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a statement. “For generations of Patriots fans, he represented the toughness, dedication and pride of those early teams.

“It meant so much to me to call Jon in 2011 and tell him he had been selected to our Hall of Fame, ensuring that his contributions would always be remembered. On behalf of our family and the entire Patriots organization, we extend our deepest condolences to Jon’s family, friends and former teammates.”

Morris played 11 seasons with the organization from 1964 to 1974, mostly as a Boston Patriots player in the American Football League before the club became the New England Patriots.

He appeared in 130 regular season games for the team and started 125 of them, giving the offensive line a reliable anchor through the franchise’s early struggles and growth.

The center collected six consecutive AFL All-Star nods from 1964 to 1969. In 1970, he became the first Patriots player selected to the NFL Pro Bowl after the leagues merged.

Green Bay took Morris in the second round of the 1964 NFL Draft, while the Patriots selected him in the fourth round of the AFL Draft. He chose Boston after talking with coach Mike Holovak, a decision that kept him in New England for the bulk of his career.

Morris starred at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, serving as team captain as a senior and earning All-East honors.

Born April 5, 1942, in Washington, D.C., he went to Gonzaga College High School before moving north for college and eventually settling into a long association with the Patriots.

Morris helped open running lanes for fullback Jim Nance, who scored a team-record 45 rushing touchdowns from 1965 to 1971.

A knee injury in 1973 shortened his final years in New England, where he appeared in only a few games across the 1973 and 1974 seasons.

He later played for the Detroit Lions from 1975 to 1977, earning the team’s Most Valuable Player honor in 1977, and finished his career with the Chicago Bears in 1978 before retiring in January 1979.

After his playing days, Morris returned to the Patriots as a radio color commentator from 1979 to 1987 and later worked as an NFL analyst for NBC.

The team inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2011. He also earned spots on the franchise’s All-1960s team and its 35th- and 50th-anniversary teams.

The family plans private services and has asked that donations be made to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism in Morris’s name.