Maurice "Mo" Purify (born January 17, 1986) is an

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 ...

wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

in 2008. He played

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 ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. Purify also played for the

Georgia Force The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Je ...

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

, and

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

. Having scored over 150 touchdowns and over 6,000 receiving yards in his career, as well as winning four consecutive ArenaBowls with two teams, Purify is considered one of the best receivers in AFL history.

Early years

Purify was born in

Eureka, California Eureka (Wiyot: ''Jaroujiji'', Hupa: ''do'-wi-lotl-ding'', Karuk: ''uuth'') is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt ...

and attended Eureka High School.

College career

San Francisco City College

Purify originally attended

San Francisco City College City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, annually enrolling as many as one in nine San Franci ...

. As a freshman in 2004, he recorded 24 receptions for 444 yards and 11

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. In 2005, he recorded 68 receptions for 1,318 yards and 19 touchdowns as a sophomore and earned California Community College Football Coaches Association First-team All-America honors and Region I First-team All-California honors. He helped the team to a 10-2 season that ended with a 41-38 loss in the junior college state championship game, a game in which he earned offensive MVP honors.

Basketball career

While at SFCC, Purify also played on the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team. As a sophomore, he earned First-team junior college All-state honors as he helped lead the team to the semifinals of the 2006 California Community Colleges Commission on Athletics Men's Basketball Championship. For his basketball achievements, Purify was named the Community Colleges Commission on Athletics/

U.S. Bank U.S. Bancorp (stylized as us bancorp) is an American bank holding company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and incorporated in Delaware. It is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, and is the fifth largest banking institution i ...

Student-Athlete of the Month for March. After his two years at SFCC, Purify earned a five-star rating from

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

, was a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

and earned First-team JC-Gridwire All-America honors. He received offers from

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. He chose

Nebraska

As a junior, Purify played in all 14 games, including five starts. He recorded at least four receptions three times during the season, with a career-high six receptions at

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. He recorded career-highs of 91 yards against

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

and two touchdown receptions at Oklahoma State. As a senior in 2007, caught 57 passes for 814 yards and nine touchdowns, including seven games with five or more receptions. His 57 catches were the second-most in NU history, trailing only teammate Marlon Lucky's total in 2007. The 814 yards ranked third on the Nebraska single-season list and were the most by a Husker since Rodgers in 1972, while Purify's nine touchdown catches were second on the single-season list as well. While at Nebraska, Purify majored in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the Rehabilitation (penology), rehabilitation of o ...

and volunteered his time as an American Education Week speaker and as part of Nebraska's team hospital visits.

Career summary

Purify finished his career ranked sixth on the Nebraska career receptions list with 91 and fifth in receiving yards with 1,444. His 16 career touchdowns also placed him second on the Nebraska career charts, trailing only 1972

Heisman The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

winner

Johnny Rodgers Johnny Steven Rodgers (born July 5, 1951) is an American former football player. He played college football for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and won the Heisman Trophy in 1972. Rodgers played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

. Purify played in 25 games with nine starts in his career.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals

Purify went

undrafted 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 ...

in the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

, however, he was signed by the

on May 8. He played in all four preseason games, with three receptions for 25 yards. He was waived on August 30 and signed the next day to Bengals

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

. He was then released on September 23 and re-signed October 22 to practice squad, where he spent the rest of the season. In

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, Purify played in all four preseason games recording four receptions for 46 yards. Then, he was signed from the practice squad on November 13 and made his NFL debut during week nine at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, where he played on offense and recorded one

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

tackle. On December 16, he was released and added to the practice squad. Purify played in a total of five regular season games, as he helped the Bengals win the 2009 AFC North Division Championship.

Georgia Force

Purify signed with the

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

on November 19, 2010. He finished the 2011 season with 129 catches for 1,650 yards and 46 receiving touchdowns and was named the AFL's

Rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year, and was named to the AFL All-Arena Second team.

Omaha Nighthawks

Purify was signed by the

of the United Football League on July 11, 2011. He was placed on the injured reserve list on August 30.

Arizona Rattlers

2012

Purify signed with the

for the 2012 Arena Football League season. Purify and teammate

Nick Davila Nick Davila (born May 22, 1985) is an arena football quarterback who is currently a free agent. A three-time AFL champion, and three-time MVP, he also played for the Arizona Rattlers from 2010 to 2016. Davila is of Mexican American descent. He is ...

lead the Rattlers to an

ArenaBowl XXV ArenaBowl XXV was the 25th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion, Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion, Philadelphia Soul, 72–54. The game was played on August 10, 201 ...

victory over the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

. Purify was named First-team All-Arena as a wide receiver.

2013

Purify re-signed with the Rattlers for the 2013 season. Purify missed most of the season due to injury but returned late in the season to help lead the Rattlers to

ArenaBowl XXVI ArenaBowl XXVI was the 26th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion Philadelphia Soul, 48–39. The game was played on August 17, 201 ...

. The Rattlers once again defeated the Soul, with Purify catching 2 touchdown passes during the game.

2015

Purify was on the injured reserve for the first 7 weeks of the season before he was released. Purify came back in with the Rattlers and tried out to join the team again but Purify decided to not sign with the team and explore different options.

San Jose SaberCats

On June 30, 2015, Purify was assigned to the

Return to Arizona Rattlers

Purfiy was assigned to the Arizona Rattlers on March 24, 2016.

Coaching career

On December 17, 2015, Purify was named head coach of the Northshore Gators. On December 29, 2015, Purify said he left the Gators to take the offensive coordinator position with the

Steel City Menace The Steel City Menace were a professional indoor football team and a member of American Indoor Football that played part of the 2016 season. Originally based in Pueblo, Colorado, the Menace were to play their home games at the Southwest Motors E ...

References

External links

Cincinnati Bengals bio

Nebraska Cornhuskers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purify, Maurice 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Eureka, California Players of American football from Humboldt County, California American football wide receivers City College of San Francisco Rams football players City College of San Francisco Rams men's basketball players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Cincinnati Bengals players Georgia Force players Omaha Nighthawks players Arizona Rattlers players San Jose SaberCats players American men's basketball players