Samuel Morris III (born March 23, 1977) is a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He was selected by the

in the fifth round 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 Theat ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

Early life

Morris attended John Jay High School, where he played both quarterback and running back. As a senior, he was named the San Antonio Offensive Player of the Year by the San Antonio Express-News and the District 28-5A MVP. He accepted a football scholarship from

. As a redshirt freshman in 1996, he appeared in the first eight games of the season, rushing for 226 yards and 4 touchdowns on 29 attempts. The same year, he was placed on academic probation and was forced to take a required academic study course. He was expelled from the school after missing one class and being late for two others. He worked as a short-order cook at Sea World during his time away from football. In 1997, he missed the season after failing to make the required grades. In 1998, although he earned a 3.0 grade average in the spring semester, he still missed the season after being ruled ineligible by the NCAA, because his course work did not meet NCAA guidelines. As a senior in 1999, he appeared in 9 games as a team co-captain. He was second on the squad behind Shaud Williams with 562 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Morris was selected by the

in the fifth-round (156th overall) of the

. As a rookie, he appeared in 12 games with 8 starts, rushing for 341 yards and 5 touchdowns, caught 37 passes for 268 yards and one score, while also making 11 special teams tackles. In 2001, he appeared in 16 games (one start), leading the team with 28 special teams tackles, while rushing for 72 yards on 20 carries as a backup running back. In 2002, he led the team with 31 special teams tackles. In 2003, he registered 9 special teams tackles in 9 games.

Miami Dolphins

Morris signed a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

contract with the

on March 12, 2004, and though he was expected to be a fullback he ended up being the team's leading rusher following the abrupt retirement of

Ricky Williams Errick Miron (born Errick Lynne Williams Jr.; May 21, 1977), known professionally as Ricky Williams, is an American former professional football running back who played for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season in the ...

. He started eight of the 13 games he played in, finishing with 523 rushing yards and six touchdowns. He backed up rookie

Ronnie Brown Ronnie G. Brown Jr. (born December 12, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). After graduating from Cartersville High School in Georgia, Brown attended Auburn Uni ...

in 2005 and led the Dolphins with 16 special teams tackles. Morris was suspended for the first four games of the 2006 regular season.

New England Patriots

On March 3, 2007, the

signed Morris to a four-year contract. He started two of the first six games of the season, averaging 4.5 yards a carry. On October 14, 2007, Morris suffered a chest injury while playing against the

. On November 2, 2007, after missing two games, Morris was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a chest injury, ending his season. In 2009, he made the USA Today All Joe Team after registering 319 rushing yards with 2 touchdowns along with 19 receptions for 180 yards. He missed 4 games with an injury.

Dallas Cowboys

On December 13, 2011, Morris was signed by the

after they placed starting running back

DeMarco Murray DeMarco Murray (born February 12, 1988) is an American college football coach and former professional player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. A three-time Pro Bowl selection and one-time first-team ...

on injured reserve with a fractured ankle and

high ankle sprain A high ankle sprain, also known as a syndesmotic ankle sprain (SAS), is a sprain of the syndesmotic ligaments that connect the tibia and fibula in the lower leg, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint for the ankle. High ankle sprains are desc ...

. He rushed for 98 yards in three games as a backup. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

Morris was an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the Patriots from 2016 to 2018, while simultaneously also being an assistant football coach at Attleboro High School since 2013. In June 2018, he was hired to take over the running back assistant coach position in

Dean College Dean College is a private college in Franklin, Massachusetts. It offers bachelor's degrees, associate degrees, and certificates. History Dean College was founded by Oliver Dean as a co-educational academy, Dean Academy, in 1865. He gave t ...

. Morris was named the assistant director of player support development at his alma mater

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship institution of the five- ...

on April 26, 2021.

Personal life

His father Samuel Morris II and his brother Brien Morris, were staff sergeants in the Air Force.

References

External links

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Sammy 1977 births American football fullbacks American sportspeople in doping cases Buffalo Bills players Dallas Cowboys players Dean Bulldogs football coaches Doping cases in American football English players of American football High school football coaches in Massachusetts Living people Miami Dolphins players New England Patriots players Players of American football from San Antonio Texas Tech Red Raiders football players John Jay High School (San Antonio) alumni