Morris M. Towns (born January 10, 1954) 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 ...

offensive tackle who played for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

and 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 ...

of 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 ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and was selected by the Oilers in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft.

College career

Morris Towns attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

where he played offensive tackle for the Missouri Tigers football team from 1974-1976. He won his first letter as a sophomore. He started becoming more noticed in his junior season and was noted for holding more than his own against future 1976 NFL Draft first-overall pick

Lee Roy Selmon Lee Roy Selmon (October 20, 1954 – September 4, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football as a defensive tackle ...

. Towns was a part of the 1976 College Football All-America Team in his senior year. In college, Towns was selected to the

Blue–Gray Football Classic The Blue–Gray Football Classic was an annual American college football all-star game held in Alabama, usually in late December and often on Christmas Day. The brainchild of Alabama college football legend Champ Pickens, the contest began in ...

, the

Hula Bowl The Hula Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game held annually, usually in January. From inception through the 2021 playing, it was held in Hawaii; since the 2022 edition, it has been played in Orlando, Florida. The game was first st ...

, and the Japan Bowl. Towns was inducted into the 2006 class of the University of Missouri Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Houston Oilers

Towns was selected in the first round (11th overall) by the

in the 1977 NFL Draft. He played with the Oilers for seven seasons from 1977-1983. He started all 16 games in only 1979 and 1981, but did start all nine games in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

Washington Redskins

Towns played for the

in the 1984 season, but did not start any games.

Personal life

Towns was a standout student at the

and majored in engineering. He is a civil design engineer. He resides in

Richmond, Texas Richmond is a city in and the county seat of Fort Bend County, Texas, United States. The city is located within the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city population was 11,627. It is home to the founders of the former company O ...

with his wife Bridgette and has two children, Raven and Brittany.

References

1954 births Living people Players of American football from St. Louis American football offensive tackles Missouri Tigers football players Houston Oilers players Washington Redskins players {{offensive-lineman-1950s-stub