Robert Samuel Morris (born January 18, 1975) is a former professional American football linebacker who spent his entire 8-year professional career for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

of the National Football League. He played

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at Brigham Young University and was selected by the Colts in the first round (28th overall) of the

2000 NFL draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. With the Colts, Morris won

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

against the

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Early years

Morris was born and raised in Nampa, Idaho, and graduated from Nampa High School in 1993. He was an all-state

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

for the Bulldogs in football and '' USA Today'' All-American, and also lettered in basketball and track. Morris was also an Eagle Scout and was inducted into the NHS hall of fame in 2010.

College career

Morris attended Brigham Young University (BYU) in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...

, and played college football for the Cougars. Morris was a semi-finalist for the Butkus Award and was named as a first-team All-American by the Associated Press, ''

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'', and ''The Football News''. He earned a bachelor's degree in communications from BYU.

Professional career

In 2000, Morris was selected in the first round (28th overall) of the NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, where he spent his entire career. Morris started at middle linebacker for the Colts for the first 5 years of his career, and was the Colts' leading special teams tackler in the 2006 season. Morris also

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9 games for the Colts during the 2006 season, including 3 games in the playoffs and

, replacing

Gilbert Gardner Gilbert Ravelle Gardner, II (born May 9, 1982 in Angleton, Texas) is a former American football linebacker. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue. Gardner earne ...

to improve the Colts' run defense. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, Morris had his best statistical year with 114 total tackles (84 solo) and one sack. Morris was an unrestricted free agent after the 2006 season concluded and was re-signed by Indianapolis on March 5. He injured his left knee in the fourth game of

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, and had season-ending surgery. He was released after a failed physical on February 27, 2008.

NFL statistics

Notes and references

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Rob 1975 births Living people Latter Day Saints from Idaho People from Nampa, Idaho Players of American football from Idaho American football outside linebackers BYU Cougars football players Indianapolis Colts players Ed Block Courage Award recipients