Maurice Morris life and biography

Maurice Morris is an American football running back for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League.

* Signed with the Detroit Lions as an unrestricted free agent February 28, 2009 to a three-year deal.
* Re-signed by the Seattle Seahawks April 5, 2006.
* Drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the second round (54th overall) of the 2002 NFL Draft.

PRO: Physical running back who joined the Lions in 2009 and started the final three games for Detroit. His 2009 season was highlighted by a 126-yard rushing performance against Arizona (12/20) which included a career-long 64-yard touchdown run.

* Prior to joining Detroit, Morris spent the previous seven years of his professional career (2002-08) with Seattle.
* Morris finished out his career with the Seahawks with 101 games played (22 starts), 2,612 yards on 634 attempts and five touchdowns. He also added 74 receptions for 555 yards and four touchdowns, as well as 129 kickoff returns for 2,843 yards and a touchdown and 15 punt returns for 75 yards. In 2007, Morris played in 14 games (five starts), posting career-highs with 628 yards and four touchdowns on 140 carries.

2010: Back-up running back.
* Had 2 receptions for 18 yards, including a long of 15, and 2 carries for -3 yard sin season opener at Chicago (9/12).
* Carried the ball 3 times for 8 yards vs. Philadelphia (9/19).
* Matched a career-high with five receptions (36 yards) at Minnesota (9/26).
* Inactive vs. St. Louis (10/10).
* Saw action on special teams, recording one special teams tackle against Washington (10/31).
* Rushed for 31 yards on 10 carries at Dallas (11/21). Added four catches for 40 yards out of the backfield.
* Scored two touchdowns, both one-yard scores, on nine carries for a total of 55 yards against New England (11/25). Added five catches for 20 yards.
* For the first time in his nine-year career, scored two rushing touchdowns in a game.
* Carried ten times for 37 yards against Chicago (12/5).

2009: Had 93 rushing attempts for 384 yards and 26 receptions for 210 yards on the season. Began the season as the backup runningback, then moved into the starting role Week 15 after Kevin Smith was sidelined with a knee injury.
* Did not play in season opener at New Orleans (9/13).
* Scored first rushing touchdown of the season vs. Washington (9/27) on a 2-yard run. Season-high eight attempts for 10 yards.
* Recorded season-long catch of 16 yards vs. Pittsburgh (10/11).
* Did not play at Green Bay (10/18).
* Filled in for Kevin Smith throughout the second half due to a shoulder injury and finished with 14 carries for 63 yards (both season highs) vs. St. Louis (11/1). Also caught a Matthew Stafford conversion that tied the game at 10-10 in the fourth quarter. Morris’ 63 yards are the highest output since joining the Lions this season.
* Started his first game of the season, gaining 126 yards on 17 carries (7.4 avg.). Also set a career-long on a 64-yard touchdown run. Added a career-high five receptions for 35 yards to finish with 161 total yards of offense.
* Carried the ball 16 times for 65 yards while adding five receptions for 41 yards vs. Chicago (1/3). Morris finished with 106 total yards from scrimmage, marking the second game in which he topped 100 total yards.

2008: Played in 13 games with six starts and totaled 574 yards on 132 carries. Also added 19 receptions for 136 yards and two touchdowns.
* Led team with 56 yards rushing on six carries (9.3 avg.) at Tampa Bay (10/19).
* Had 103 yards on 14 carries (7.4 avg.) for fourth-career 100-yard rushing performance. Also led team with three catches for 10 yards and a touchdown vs. Washington (11/23).
* Recorded second 100-yard rushing game of season in 100th-career game vs. NY Jets (12/21). Rushed for 116 yards on 29 carries.

2007: Played in 14 games with five starts, posting career-highs with 628 yards and four touchdowns on 140 carries.
* Recorded his second career receiving touchdown vs. Tampa Bay (9/9).
* Rushed for a season-high 91 yards in finale at Atlanta (12/30).

2006: Played in all 16 games with a career-high eight starts, six in place of Shaun Alexander.
* Started in a two-back set with Alexander in the season-opener at Detroit (9/10) and vs. Green Bay (11/27).
* Recorded back-to-back 100-yard games, giving him three career, with a career-high 138 yards on a career-high 30 carries vs. Oakland (11/6) and 124 yards on 21 carries vs. St. Louis (11/12).

2005: Played in all 16 games with two starts alongside Shaun Alexander (at Tennessee, 12/18 and vs. Indianapolis, 12/24).
* First career rush score came vs. Houston (10/16). Rushed for a career-high 104 yards on eight carries (13.0 avg.) with a career-long 49-yard gain. Along with Alexander’s 141 yards, was just the third time in franchise history with two 100-yard rushers in a single game, and in all, the team set a franchise-record with 320 rush yards on the night.
* Carried seven times for 24 yards vs. Carolina (1/22/06).

2004: Played in 15 games and was inactive at San Francisco (11/7) with a concussion.
* Posted season-highs vs. San Francisco (9/26) in carries (8), yards (42), and long gain (12).
* Tied his career-high with seven kickoff returns on three occasions (at New England, 10/17, vs. Dallas, 12/6, and at the New York Jets, 12/19).
* Had a season-high 171 kickoff return yards at the Patriots (10/17).
* Posted a season-long 34-yard return at Minnesota (12/12).

2003: Played in all 16 games. Served as the team’s primary kickoff returner, totaling 47 for 1,007 yards (21.4 avg.) and a long of 56 coming at Minnesota (12/7) where he returned five kickoffs for a season-high 153 yards.
* Saw first-career start vs. St. Louis (9/21) in place of Alexander and caught a career-high three passes for 28 yards.

2002: Saw action in 11 games and totaled 153 yards on 32 carries. Won kickoff return duties in training camp and ranked eighth in NFC with a 24.1 kickoff return average.
* Established a club record with 231 kickoff return yards on the second-most returns (7) while taking one a club-record tying 97 yards for the score (James Jefferson vs. Kansas City, 10/8/89). It was the first time a Seattle player had taken one the distance since Charlie Rogers vs. Buffalo (12/23/00, 21 games). Also tied Seahawks records for kickoff return touchdowns (1) in a career, season, game and as a rookie.
* The 231 kickoff return yards were the most in the NFC in 2002.

COLLEGE:Spent two years at Oregon after transferring from Fresno City College where he was two-time JC Grid-Wire All-American.
* Set national JC records of 4,487 all-purpose yards and 3,708 yards rushing on 593 carries.
* Set Fresno City records with 26 scores in 1998, career rushing touchdowns (45), and total (49).
* Finished his Ducks career with 2,237 yards on 466 carries with 17 touchdowns and 307 yards and three scores on 35 receptions.
* His 2,237 rushing yards were fifth in school history.

PERSONAL: Rushed for over 1,600 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior at Chester (S.C.) High School.

* Has six brothers and eight sisters of Diane and Bernard Morris.
* Born in Chester, S.C.

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