Dennis Morris (born February 15, 1987) 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 wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

. Morris was an All-American tight end for

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. He was drafted in the sixth round (174th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

. He was also a member of the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

, San Diego Chargers, and

West Texas Wildcatters The West Texas Wildcatters were a professional indoor football team based in Odessa, Texas. The Wildcatters played their home games at the Ector County Coliseum. The Wildcatters began play in 2014 an expansion team in the Lone Star Football League ...

Early life

Morris was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he attended and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for Woodlawn High School. A multi-talented athlete, he played wide receiver,

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 handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

, and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

while in high school. In his career, he totaled 1,947 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns, as well as 216 career tackles and eight interceptions. Morris earned all-district honors three times and was named to the

Shreveport Times ''The Times'' is a Gannett daily newspaper based in Shreveport, Louisiana. Its distribution area includes 12 parishes in Northwest Louisiana and three counties in East Texas. Its coverage focuses on issues affecting the Shreveport-Bossier market, ...

All-City team as a senior. Morris also ran track and played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

. As a senior, he was named the District 1-4A MVP in basketball.

College career

Morris played college football at

Louisiana Tech University Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research acti ...

. He played in 48 career games with 21 starts, and totaled 70 career receptions for 1,144 yards and 16 touchdowns. As a freshman, Morris played in all 13 games (two started) as a

, a position he did not play in high school. In the third game of the season, he recorded 103 receiving yards in a loss against

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. On November 4, 2006, he caught his first touchdown reception in a win against the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

. Morris finished the season with 16 receptions for 284 yards and three touchdowns. Morris played in all 12 games as a sophomore and had nine catches for 79 yards. In addition to playing tight end, he was also used as a blocking back and running back in goal-line situations. On September 8, 2007, he scored his first career rushing touchdown in a 45-44 overtime loss against the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. During his junior season, Morris played in all 13 games and started seven. He had seven receptions for 158 yards and one touchdown. As a senior, Morris earned first-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

and All-American honors and had a team-high 38 receptions for 623 yards and 12 touchdowns. His twelve touchdowns were the most nationally by a tight end. On November 21, 2009, he set career-highs in receptions (seven), receiving yards (131) and touchdowns (three) in a loss against

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

. He became the first Louisiana Tech player since 1999 to catch three touchdown passes in a game. When his college career ended, he ranked tenth in school history with 16 touchdown receptions.

Pre-draft

Professional career

Washington Redskins

Morris was drafted in the sixth round (174th overall) of the 2010 NFL Draft by the

. He signed a four-year $1.823 million contract, including a $118,000 signing bonus, with the Redskins on June 11, 2010.

St. Louis Rams

On August 30, 2010, Morris was traded to the St. Louis Rams for an undisclosed conditional draft pick.http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/010710aab.html , Louisiana Tech Athletics, Retrieved August 31, 2010

San Diego Chargers

On January 12, 2011, Morris was signed to a reserve/future contract by the San Diego Chargers. He was waived/injured on August 24, and after passing through waivers unclaimed, reverted to injured reserve.

West Texas Wildcatters

In 2014, Morris signed to play for the

of the

Lone Star Football League The Lone Star Football League (LSFL) was a regional professional indoor football minor league that played three seasons from 2012 to 2014. All of the LSFL's charter teams were based in the state of Texas, with five teams coming from the Southern ...

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Dennis 1987 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football tight ends American football fullbacks Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football players San Diego Chargers players West Texas Wildcatters players