Byron ''Bam'' Morris (born January 13, 1972) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

, and the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

of 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).

Early life

Morris attended

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 ...

where he won the 1993 Doak Walker Award as the top running back in

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 ...

. Among other accomplishments while playing for the Red Raiders, Morris was ranked second in the nation in rushing yards per game in 1993. He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 91st overall pick in the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

(3rd round). His older brother Ron Morris played for the

and collegiately at

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

(SMU). Their older brother J.C. Morris played college football at Texas Christian University (TCU).

Professional career

Morris was selected by the

in the third round of the

with the 91st overall pick. During his NFL career, he recorded 3,809 yards on 974 attempts and scored 35

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s during 75 games. He also caught 103 passes for 790 yards and one touchdown. He was the leading rusher for the Steelers in their

Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion fo ...

loss to the Cowboys, gaining 73 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Off-field issues

Morris has become more well known for his off-field legal troubles than his football prowess. On June 27, 1996, Morris pleaded guilty to

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

possession of

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

in a

plea bargain A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include a ...

deal in front of a

Rockwall County, Texas Rockwall County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 107,819, and was estimated to be 137,044 in 2024. Its county seat is Rockwall. The county and city are named for a wall-like subterranean rock f ...

, judge. Police testified that they found 6 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop. He was fined $7,000 and sentenced to 200 hours of community service and six years' probation. He was cut by the Steelers after the guilty plea and signed as 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 ...

with the Baltimore Ravens. After two seasons, both marked with suspensions concerning the NFL's substance abuse policy, Morris was released. He signed with the Chicago Bears the following year, but was cut after playing in only two regular season games. He then signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Morris pleaded guilty in August 2001 to two counts of federal

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

and was sentenced to 30 months in prison. As part of the plea bargain, Morris admitted to distributing more than 100 kilograms of marijuana in the Kansas City area between 1998 and 2000. On September 10, 2001, Morris was convicted of violating his parole stemming from his 1996 plea bargain and sentenced to 10 years in a Texas prison. He was released early on February 29, 2004. He played

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

with the Katy Copperheads in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Bam 1972 births Living people American football running backs Pittsburgh Steelers players Chicago Bears players Kansas City Chiefs players People from Cooper, Texas Texas Tech Red Raiders football players American drug traffickers Baltimore Ravens players American people convicted of drug offenses American sportspeople convicted of crimes 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen