Stanley Douglas Morgan (born February 17, 1955) is an American former
football player who was a
wide receiver 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 ...
(NFL) for the
New England Patriots and
Indianapolis Colts. A "deep threat" receiver, he holds the NFL record (among receivers with at least 500 catches) with 19.2 yards per catch, and also holds the Patriots team record for total receiving yards in a career.
A four time
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 ...
selection and two time
All-Pro
All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...
, he was selected to the New England Patriots team Hall of Fame, the team's highest honor, in 2007. Morgan was also named to the New England Patriots 1970’s & 1980’s All Decade Teams.
In 2021, the
Professional Football Researchers Association named Morgan to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2021
Early career
Morgan played high school football at
Easley High School in
Easley, South Carolina
Easley is a city in Pickens County, South Carolina, Pickens County (with parts extending into Anderson County, South Carolina, Anderson County) in the U.S. state, State of South Carolina. Most of the city lies in Pickens County, with a small porti ...
. In 1972, his team won a state championship.
Morgan went on to play college football for the
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...
, where he was an outstanding multi-position player, appearing in all 46 Volunteers games in his four-year career. As a freshman in 1973, he was used primarily as a wide receiver with 22 receptions for 522 yards and 4 touchdowns. In his breakthrough sophomore season, he had 128 rushes for 723 yards and 11 touchdowns, 10 catches for 234 and 2 touchdowns, and 29 punt returns including 1 touchdown, for an SEC-leading 84 points.
He made the All-SEC team in
1974 as a wide receiver (UPI) and a running back (AP2). His 1,587 all-purpose yards that year remained a school record until 1987. His junior year, Morgan was used as a running back (133 carries for 809 yards and 8 touchdowns) and also a kick returner. In a game against
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
he scored 3 touchdowns, including a 50-yard run and 70 yard punt return. He also became the first Volunteer to rush for 200 yards in a game with 201 against
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
. His senior year, he balanced his time more, finishing second on the team in both rushing (90 carries for 388 yards and 9 touchdowns to
Bobby Emmons' 462) and receiving (14 catches for 317 yards and 2 touchdowns to
Larry Seivers 737). He had 201 yards receiving against
TCU, the second most at the time. His 11 touchdowns that season placed Morgan second in the SEC to
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
's
Terry Robiskie
Terrance Joseph Robiskie (born November 12, 1954) is a former American football coach and player. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Washington R ...
, and earned him
1976 All-SEC honors as a running back (AP) and receiver (UPI).
College statistics
He holds the all-purpose yards record for the University of Tennessee, which stands at 4,642, and led Tennessee in that category all four seasons. He shares the modern record for career touchdowns with 39,
his 28 rushing touchdowns is third all-time, and his 1,615 combined return yards is 5th. Morgan was inducted into the University of Tennessee Hall of Fame in 2000.
Professional career
Morgan was selected by the
New England Patriots in the first round of the
1977 NFL Draft (25th overall). Despite being used primarily as a running back after his freshman year, Morgan's exceptional speed helped him transition back to wide receiver. He averaged over 20 yards per reception his first six seasons, with a career-high and franchise-record 24.1 yards per reception in
1978. He led the NFL in yards per reception in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1980 and
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, and ended his career with the three best seasons in that category for a Patriots receiver (and six of the top 12). He also led the league in receiving
touchdowns
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 Amer ...
in 1979 with a franchise-record 12. In a 1978 game against the
Baltimore Colts, Morgan had five receptions for a franchise-record 170 yards; he broke his own record in 1981 against the
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
with five receptions for 182 yards, a mark that stood for 17 years.
Stanley topped 1,000 receiving yards a franchise-record three times (
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
&
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
). His best season as a Patriot was 1986 when he caught 84 passes for a then-franchise-record 1,491 yards and 10 touchdowns, leading the Patriots to the
AFC East Title. Morgan appeared in four
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 ...
s (
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the '' International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the '' Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the so ...
,
1980,
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
**Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal enter ...
&
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
) and was selected 2nd Team All-Pro in 1980 & 1986. Morgan was a member of the
1985 AFC Champion New England Patriots, and caught six passes for 51 yards in
Super Bowl XX. After 13 seasons with New England, he was traded to
Indianapolis where he played just one season. At the time, he held the franchise record in every receiving category with 534 catches (now fourth to
Wes Welker
Wesley Carter Welker (born May 1, 1981) is an American football coach and former wide receiver who is the wide receivers coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach for the San ...
, Julian Edelman and
Troy Brown
Troy Fitzgerald Brown (born July 2, 1971) is an American football coach and former player who is the wide receivers and kick returners coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played as a wide receiver and k ...
) for 10,352 yards (still the franchise record) and 67 touchdowns. (now second to
Rob Gronkowski
Robert James Gronkowski (born May 14, 1989) is an American former football tight end who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Nicknamed "Gronk", Gronkowski played nine seasons for the New England Patriots, then played h ...
). He also has the franchise record with 38 games with 100+ receiving yards, 10,479 yards from scrimmage, and is second to
Kevin Faulk
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
with 11,471 all-purpose yards. He finished his career with 557 receptions for 10,716 yards (19.2 yards per catch) and 72 touchdowns (solidly in the all-time NFL top 100 in all four categories), along with 127 rushing yards and 989 combined return yards.
Morgan was inducted into the New England Patriots Hall of Fame on August 27, 2007.
In 2021, ''
The Athletic
''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...
'' named him the best #25 pick since the
AFL-NFL merger, and noted that many of his teammates were rankled by his absence from the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...
despite having more receiving yards and receiving touchdowns than many of his contemporaries. Reportedly, his Hall of Fame candidacy has been hampered because he played on mostly mediocre teams during his career (the Patriots made the playoffs only five times during his 13 years in New England).
NFL career statistics
Regular season
Coaching career
Morgan was wide receivers coach for the
XFL
XFL may refer to:
Sports
* XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001
* XFL (2020), a professional American football league
Vehicles
* Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...
's
Memphis Maniax
The Memphis Maniax were an American football team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The team was part of the XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States. Home games were playe ...
.
References
External links
New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Stanley
1955 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Greenville, South Carolina
American football wide receivers
Tennessee Volunteers football players
New England Patriots players
American Conference Pro Bowl players
Indianapolis Colts players
Memphis Maniax coaches
10,000 receiving yards club