What makes things interesting to me is the quirky or unusual stories that lead to a way of thinking or success.. Even failure for that matter... If I had my dream job, I would have pursued something similar to the late Charles Kuralt that covered human interest stories. It is fascinating to me what events or nurture has influenced people's thoughts, behaviors, fields of work, family structure, hobbies, etc.
So it is with Jamie Morris, former RB for University of Michigan... Morris lives about an hour from me in the Ann Arbor area where he went to college... He worked for his alma mater for 12 years as basically a representative of the college.. Kind of a similar role to what Archie Griffin does at Ohio State. He was fired by former AD David Brandon as there was illegal use of a courtesy vehicle that was the responsibility of Morris and Morris made up a story to cover the situation.. Many people from Michigan said that Morris was a "good soldier" and was just doing what he was asked to do and ended up trying to help a person who did not have a car to drive.. Many ethical people said it was more Michigan's fault than it was Morris' but Morris took the fall... We will probably never know the whole story. He now works for a investment company in a PR role and does local radio in the Ann Arbor area on Sundays.
Morris is from a very athletic family who were born in strict discipline... The Morris brothers(Joe, Larry, Michael, and Jamie) were all D1 football players.. The oldest 3 went to Syracuse and Jamie went to Michigan... Their dad, Earl, was a Green Beret and paratrooper out of the 82nd airborne in Fort Bragg. He was quite a decorated soldier from Vietnam and had flown a plane under duress when the pilot was killed in the plane. Earl saved many lives as a result.. Earl was a great athlete in track, earlier in his life. He REQUIRED his children(2 daughters and 4 sons) to say "yes sir" or "no sir" to ALL adult men and "Yes Ma'am/No Ma'am" to the women.... The family discussions centered around many intellectual things and what the boys would do if they were put in difficult situations. They grew up together to support one another, just like a military circumstance. Earl wanted his boys to be leaders and to inspire those around them, at any given time. They would literally fight to get the backups in high school to understand their importance to the team... A coach's dream in many respects..
Part of the quirkiness of the family was Earl's philosophy of always saying "If you want to talk to someone intelligent, talk to yourself"...People said they would see Earl talking to himself all the time. Some credit a strange personality, some credited it to PTSD from military service abroad. The boys thought it to be normal as they never knew different. The boys were born in Fort Bragg but when Earl took a post office job, they moved outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
All 4 boys lacked size.... Joe, Larry, and Jamie are all under 5-8 and Michael is 5-9, 5-10.. All were good sprinters like their dad though Michael was the top HS sprinter in the nation, coming out of HS. He ran a 10.3 100 meters and qualified for the Millrose games. There was competition.. Jamie was asked to run a 400 meters in HS as a sophomore. In that initial 400, he ran a 48.9 in tennis shoes... Safe to say that Jamie had speed but what was amazing is that he was that fast with short legs at 5-6.
Being at Fort Bragg, Earl heard the reputation and accolades of Ben Swartzwalder, former coach of Syracuse and fellow former paratrooper out of Fort Bragg.. Swartzwalder was known for his discipline being a World War 2 hero. He developed Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, and Larry Csonka who were football heroes in Earl Morris' younger days. SO although Swartzwalder was long retired as coach but lived in the Syracuse area at the time, Earl sent Joe there and Joe ended up setting all the University rushing records over those legends... Larry demolished Joe's HS records and also went to Syracuse.. Larry's problem was that his HS team was TOO good and Larry would almost never play in the 2nd half of a game....Larry did not succeed at Syracuse as he had less than 400 CAREER yards though he was available for all 44 games of his 4 year career.... Michael loved track so his heart was never into football though he could fly... Syracuse made him a receiver and he never did much.
Jamie came along as the family prodigy.. Joe always said that Jamie was going to be the best in the family.. The other brothers all agree... Jamie was a huge fan of the Michigan helmets as a child and wanted to carve his own way... By this time, the Morris family had a reputation and Michigan recruited the Northeast so they knew of Jamie's interest in the Wolverines.. Bo Schembechler told Jamie that because of his size, Michigan wanted him as returner but promised to give him a shot at tailback, not thinking anything would come of that,. Schembechler followed through with his promise and was surprised of how good Morris was at his size, Morris ended up as Michigan's all time leading rusher(since broken by IRONICALLY a small RB who prepped in SYRACUSE, New York, Michael Hart).. The reason he never got the accolades is Lorenzo White was setting the Big Ten rushing record at state rival Michigan State, virtually the same time that Morris played at Michigan. Jamie Morris ended up with over 4300 career yards.
THE IRONY OF JAMIE MORRIS' LEGACY IN THE NFL IS HIS ONE RECORD... When people think of backs with lots of carries, they think of guys 220-225 pounds or more that can absorb the punishment.....The IRONY is that the NFL record for most carries is 45 in a game held by.....Jamie Morris for the Washington Redskins in 1989.. In fairness, that game the Redskins were playing the last game of the year and were trying to see what they had for the next year... so on a cold December day in 1989, Morris set the NFL record for carries in a game as a 5-6 RB less than 195 pounds. He played a little the next year but only averaged 2.7 yards a carry.. He went to the CFL for a year and then retired.
So it is with Jamie Morris, former RB for University of Michigan... Morris lives about an hour from me in the Ann Arbor area where he went to college... He worked for his alma mater for 12 years as basically a representative of the college.. Kind of a similar role to what Archie Griffin does at Ohio State. He was fired by former AD David Brandon as there was illegal use of a courtesy vehicle that was the responsibility of Morris and Morris made up a story to cover the situation.. Many people from Michigan said that Morris was a "good soldier" and was just doing what he was asked to do and ended up trying to help a person who did not have a car to drive.. Many ethical people said it was more Michigan's fault than it was Morris' but Morris took the fall... We will probably never know the whole story. He now works for a investment company in a PR role and does local radio in the Ann Arbor area on Sundays.
Morris is from a very athletic family who were born in strict discipline... The Morris brothers(Joe, Larry, Michael, and Jamie) were all D1 football players.. The oldest 3 went to Syracuse and Jamie went to Michigan... Their dad, Earl, was a Green Beret and paratrooper out of the 82nd airborne in Fort Bragg. He was quite a decorated soldier from Vietnam and had flown a plane under duress when the pilot was killed in the plane. Earl saved many lives as a result.. Earl was a great athlete in track, earlier in his life. He REQUIRED his children(2 daughters and 4 sons) to say "yes sir" or "no sir" to ALL adult men and "Yes Ma'am/No Ma'am" to the women.... The family discussions centered around many intellectual things and what the boys would do if they were put in difficult situations. They grew up together to support one another, just like a military circumstance. Earl wanted his boys to be leaders and to inspire those around them, at any given time. They would literally fight to get the backups in high school to understand their importance to the team... A coach's dream in many respects..
Part of the quirkiness of the family was Earl's philosophy of always saying "If you want to talk to someone intelligent, talk to yourself"...People said they would see Earl talking to himself all the time. Some credit a strange personality, some credited it to PTSD from military service abroad. The boys thought it to be normal as they never knew different. The boys were born in Fort Bragg but when Earl took a post office job, they moved outside of Boston, Massachusetts.
All 4 boys lacked size.... Joe, Larry, and Jamie are all under 5-8 and Michael is 5-9, 5-10.. All were good sprinters like their dad though Michael was the top HS sprinter in the nation, coming out of HS. He ran a 10.3 100 meters and qualified for the Millrose games. There was competition.. Jamie was asked to run a 400 meters in HS as a sophomore. In that initial 400, he ran a 48.9 in tennis shoes... Safe to say that Jamie had speed but what was amazing is that he was that fast with short legs at 5-6.
Being at Fort Bragg, Earl heard the reputation and accolades of Ben Swartzwalder, former coach of Syracuse and fellow former paratrooper out of Fort Bragg.. Swartzwalder was known for his discipline being a World War 2 hero. He developed Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little, and Larry Csonka who were football heroes in Earl Morris' younger days. SO although Swartzwalder was long retired as coach but lived in the Syracuse area at the time, Earl sent Joe there and Joe ended up setting all the University rushing records over those legends... Larry demolished Joe's HS records and also went to Syracuse.. Larry's problem was that his HS team was TOO good and Larry would almost never play in the 2nd half of a game....Larry did not succeed at Syracuse as he had less than 400 CAREER yards though he was available for all 44 games of his 4 year career.... Michael loved track so his heart was never into football though he could fly... Syracuse made him a receiver and he never did much.
Jamie came along as the family prodigy.. Joe always said that Jamie was going to be the best in the family.. The other brothers all agree... Jamie was a huge fan of the Michigan helmets as a child and wanted to carve his own way... By this time, the Morris family had a reputation and Michigan recruited the Northeast so they knew of Jamie's interest in the Wolverines.. Bo Schembechler told Jamie that because of his size, Michigan wanted him as returner but promised to give him a shot at tailback, not thinking anything would come of that,. Schembechler followed through with his promise and was surprised of how good Morris was at his size, Morris ended up as Michigan's all time leading rusher(since broken by IRONICALLY a small RB who prepped in SYRACUSE, New York, Michael Hart).. The reason he never got the accolades is Lorenzo White was setting the Big Ten rushing record at state rival Michigan State, virtually the same time that Morris played at Michigan. Jamie Morris ended up with over 4300 career yards.
THE IRONY OF JAMIE MORRIS' LEGACY IN THE NFL IS HIS ONE RECORD... When people think of backs with lots of carries, they think of guys 220-225 pounds or more that can absorb the punishment.....The IRONY is that the NFL record for most carries is 45 in a game held by.....Jamie Morris for the Washington Redskins in 1989.. In fairness, that game the Redskins were playing the last game of the year and were trying to see what they had for the next year... so on a cold December day in 1989, Morris set the NFL record for carries in a game as a 5-6 RB less than 195 pounds. He played a little the next year but only averaged 2.7 yards a carry.. He went to the CFL for a year and then retired.
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