Milton Denis Morin (October 15, 1942 – July 9, 2010) was a professional

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 ...

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. Like ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. Morin attended St. Bernard's High School in

Fitchburg, Massachusetts Fitchburg is a city in northern Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The third-largest city in the county, its population was 41,946 at the 2020 census. Fitchburg is home to Fitchburg State University as well as 17 public and private e ...

, where he held records in track and field and was elected co-captain of the football team. He also attended Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, NH before college. After college at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

, where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, he played for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

for ten seasons (1966–1975). Morin was drafted in the first round of the

1966 NFL Draft The 1966 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rou ...

, the first-ever UMass first-round draft pick. He was voted to the

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

in 1968 and

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. After he made the team, team owner

Art Modell Arthur Bertram Modell (June 23, 1925 – September 6, 2012) was an American businessman, entrepreneur and National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise for 35 years and established the Baltimore Ravens franchis ...

called him into his office and asked Morin what salary he would have made if he became a school teacher; Morin's major was education. He told Modell that $6,000 was the salary. Modell told him that he would pay Morin $6,000 a year as tight end. On May 11, 2010, Morin was elected into the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

. On July 9, 2010, he died at

Cooley Dickinson Hospital Cooley Dickinson Hospital is a nonprofit community hospital located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the primary hub of Cooley Dickinson Health Care, a regional network of primary and specialty care medical providers, an affiliate of Massachu ...

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

of a heart attack. His induction into the College Football Hall of Fame was scheduled for the following week.

References

1942 births 2010 deaths American football tight ends Cleveland Browns players UMass Minutemen football players American Conference Pro Bowl players Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Fitchburg, Massachusetts People from Leominster, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Worcester County, Massachusetts Players of American football from Massachusetts Brewster Academy alumni {{Tightend-1940s-stub