Morlon O'Neil Greenwood (born July 17, 1978) is a Jamaican-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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Early life

Greenwood attended Freeport High School and participated in both football and

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. At first, he was a wrestling athlete who had won the Empire State Games in the freestyle division as a sophomore and as a junior as well as the

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

division as a junior. An assistant wrestling coach Russ Cellan (who was also the head football coach) then convinced him to play football as a junior. As a senior, in football, he was an All-County and an All-State pick, while he won the state wrestling title in the 215 lb. class.

College career

Greenwood played collegiate at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

where he started 48 consecutive games at linebacker. As a red shirt freshman, he recorded 64 tackles and two quarterback sacks while being named to the Freshman All-American second-team choice by The Sporting News. During his sophomore year, he made 55 tackles and 3 sacks. As a junior for the Orange, Greenwood collected 91 tackles along with one sack, which was against Michigan quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

. Being named co-captain his senior year, he had a career high 98 tackles while being named to the 2000 All Big East First-team along with teammates

Dwight Freeney Dwight Jason Freeney (born February 18, 1980) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive end and linebacker for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably as a member of the Indianapolis Col ...

and. He graduated from Syracuse with a bachelor's degree in Health and Exercise Science.

Professional career

Greenwood was selected in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

by the

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 ...

. He played four years with Miami including a 2004 season in which he recorded 108 tackles for the Dolphins. In 2005, as a free agent, he signed a five-year contract with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

which was worth $22.5 million and featured a $7 million signing bonus. His career with the Texans was highlighted by a 2007 season where he posted 118 tackles. In 2009, he had a brief period with the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Morlon Greenwood, a graduate of Freeport High School, was inducted in the inaugural Nassau County High School Athletics Hall of Fame. The class of 6 included notable athletes from Nassau County on Long Island such as

Jay Fiedler Jay Brian Fiedler (born December 29, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Dartmouth Big Green. He played 76 games at quarterback ...

of the Miami Dolphins and fellow Syracuse alum and NFL Hall of famer

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

. The induction ceremony took on September 30, 2015, in Long Island, New York.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Player profile

Greenwood was known mainly for his superb level of strength and conditioning. During his pro day at Syracuse, he posted a 4.47 40 yard dash time, a 415-pound bench press, a 685-pound squat, and a 350-pound power clean. In addition, he was named a 2002 National Strength Coaches Association All American. He was also known for his awareness on the field, having 4 straight NFL seasons of over 100 tackles.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Morlon 1978 births Living people Players of American football from Kingston, Jamaica People from Freeport, New York Sportspeople from Hempstead, New York Players of American football from Nassau County, New York Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican players of American football American football linebackers Syracuse Orange football players Miami Dolphins players Houston Texans players 21st-century American sportsmen Oakland Raiders players Omaha Nighthawks players