Johnnie James Morton Jr. (born October 7, 1971) 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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

in the

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(NFL) during the 1990s and 2000s. He played

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for the

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, earning recognition as an All-American in 1993. Selected by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in the first round in the 1994 NFL draft, he also played professionally for the Kansas City Chiefs and

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

of the NFL. Morton also had a brief career in mixed martial arts fighting in 2007.

Early life

Morton was born in

Torrance, California Torrance is a coastal city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city is part of what is known as the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay region of the metropolitan ...

. He attended South High School in

and played for the South High Spartans

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

team.

College career

While attending the University of Southern California, Morton played for the USC Trojans football team from 1990 to 1993. He broke twelve USC team and Pacific-10 Conference records for receptions and receiving yards. Morton was nicknamed "Big Play Morton" by Tom Kelly, and "Johnnie Hero" by USC broadcaster Pete Arbogast, thanks to a game-winning touchdown pass Morton caught in the 1990 USC-UCLA rivalry game—a 23-yard strike from Trojans quarterback Todd Marinovich with 16 seconds left that gave the Trojans a 45-42 come-from-behind victory.

Professional career

Detroit selected Morton in the first round (21st overall pick) of the 1994 NFL Draft, and he played for the Lions from to . He would go on to achieve an important secondary role on a deep Lions' receiving corps that also featured

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

flanker Herman Moore and veteran Brett Perriman. After learning the ropes as a rookie in 1994, Morton became Detroit's featured slot receiver in 1995 and a key contributor on special teams as a kickoff/punt returner. Morton was part of one of the most prolific offenses in Detroit history that year, as the Lions would rack up 436 total points (second highest in the NFL) and end up with ten victories - appearing in the playoffs for the third straight season. He contributed 44 receptions on that team for 590 yards and 8 touchdowns. Perhaps his most memorable game occurred that same season during a classic Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit against the Minnesota Vikings. Moore (127 yards), Perriman (153), and Johnnie Morton (102) all eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark, and Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders rushed for 138 yards, and quarterback Scott Mitchell passed for 410 yards in a 44-38 Lions' shootout victory. After the departure of Perriman, Morton became more of a featured receiver in Detroit's offense in the ensuing years. His best season statistically was during the 1999 season when he had 80 receptions for 1129 yards on a surprising Lions team that made the playoffs that year, despite the unexpected retirement of Barry Sanders. All told, Morton finished his pro career with 624 receptions for 8719 yards and 43 touchdowns. He currently ranks third on Detroit's all-time list in both receptions and yards-receiving, with 469 and 6,499, respectively.

NFL career statistics

Receiving Stats

Personal life

Morton's older half-brother, Michael Morton, played at UNLV and younger brother, Chad Morton played at USC. The Morton family is of

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

and Japanese ethnicity. Morton had a brief cameo appearance in the movie '' Jerry Maguire'' and the television series Moesha. During the 2001 season, comedian Jay Leno had been poking fun at the Lions' 0–12 record. After the Lions won their first game of the season 27–24 over the Minnesota Vikings, Morton announced that he wanted Leno to "kiss my ass." The following week, Morton appeared as a guest on Leno's ''Tonight Show''.

Mixed martial arts record

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, United States ,

References

External links

Professional MMA record.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morton, Johnnie 1971 births Living people All-American college football players American football wide receivers Players of American football from Torrance, California American male mixed martial artists American sportspeople in doping cases Detroit Lions players Doping cases in mixed martial arts Glenville State Pioneers football coaches Kansas City Chiefs players Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists from California San Francisco 49ers players USC Trojans football players American sportspeople of Japanese descent 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen South High School (Torrance, California) alumni Asian American players of American football