Benjamin James Morrison (born March 11, 2004) is an American 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

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). 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 ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

and was selected by the Buccaneers in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft.

Early life

Morrison attended Brophy College Preparatory in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. As a senior, he had 53 tackles and two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team bu ...

. He played in the 2022 Polynesian Bowl. Morrison committed to the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

to play college football.

College career

2022 season

Morrison earned immediate playing time in his true freshman year at Notre Dame in 2022. He made his collegiate debut on September 3, 2022, against

Ohio State The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one of the largest universities by enrollme ...

, collecting three total tackles and a pass deflection. Against

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on September 17, Morrison made his first career start by tallying three tackles. He had his first two career interceptions in an upset victory over Clemson on November 5. Two weeks later, on November 19, he had three interceptions against

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, tying the NCAA single-game record. In the 2022 Gator Bowl, Morrison added his team-high sixth interception of the season against

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. Morrison finished the season with 33 tackles (22 of them solo), four pass breakups, six interceptions, and a pick-six. He was named Freshman All-American by On3.com,

College Football News ''College Football News'' (''CFN'') is a magazine and website published by College Football News, Inc., headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. News coverage includes scores, statistics, rankings, and reports on college football games. Analysis incl ...

, Pro Football Focus. He was also named True Freshman All-American by

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports journalism department of ''The New York Times''. It provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories ...

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, and by the

Football Writers Association of America The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) is an organization of college football media members in the United States founded in 1941. It is composed of approximately 1,200 professional sports writers from both print and Internet media out ...

(FWAA).

2023 season

Morrison was named a preseason

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

by NBCSports, FWAA, and ESPN. On June 9, 2023, Morrison was named the fourth best cornerback in college football. He was also placed on the watchlist for the

Bronko Nagurski Trophy The Bronko Nagurski Trophy has been awarded annually since 1993 to the collegiate American football defensive player adjudged by the membership of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) to be the best in the National Collegiate Athle ...

, the Jim Thorpe Award, and the

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player of the year in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and profess ...

. On September 19 against NC State, Morrison caught his first interception of the season. He also added three solo tackles in a 45–24 victory. In a game against No. 10

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, Morrison intercepted Caleb Williams, setting up Audric Estimé for a one-yard touchdown run. The Fighting Irish would end up upsetting Williams and the Trojans, 48–20. Morrison would then be ruled out of Notre Dame's game against

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

due to a quad injury. On November 1, Morrison was named a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award.

2024 season

Morrison was once again named a preseason first team All-American by ESPN and The Sporting News. He totaled 20 tackles and four pass breakups in Notre Dame's first six games, including five tackles and two pass breakups in a win against

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

. Morrison's season was cut short by an injury to his hip sustained in the Irish's 49-7 win over

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, which required season-ending surgery. He entered the 2025 NFL draft after Notre Dame's run to the CFP National Championship Game, where they lost to

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Morrison was drafted by the

with the 53rd overall pick of 2025 NFL draft.

Personal life

His father, Darryl Morrison, played in the NFL. He has four siblings that also competed in college sports.

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioNotre Dame Fighting Irish bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrison, Benjamin 2004 births Living people Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona American football cornerbacks Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players