Byron "Bam" Morris (born January 13, 1972) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

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)#Offen ...

who played 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

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

, 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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

Early life

Morris attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

where he won the 1993

Doak Walker Award Since 1990 the Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. It is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Football League ...

as the top running back in

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

. 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 drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers with the 91st overall pick in the 1994

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

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

and collegiately at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

(SMU). Their older brother J.C. Morris played college football at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU).

Professional career

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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

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 ...

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

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 resu ...

possession of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

in a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

deal in front of a

Rockwall County, Texas Rockwall County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. At 149 square miles, Rockwall County has the smallest area of any Texas county. Per the 2020 Census, its population was 107,819. Its county seat is Rockwall. The county and city are named ...

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 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 contract at present but who is a ...

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 that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

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 Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

with the Katy Copperheads in 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Bam 1972 births Living people African-American players of American football 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 African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Early life

Professional career

Off-field issues

See also

References