Wayne Morris (born May 3, 1954) is a former college and professional football player.

Early life and high school

Morris was born and raised in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. In 1972, Morris graduated from

South Oak Cliff High School South Oak Cliff High School (colloquially referred to as SOC, pronounced "sock") is a public secondary school located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas, Texas, United States. South Oak Cliff High School enrolls students in grades 9- 12 and is a ...

(SOC), where he starred at defensive back and running back. A 1981

D Magazine ''D Magazine'' is a monthly magazine covering Dallas–Fort Worth. It is headquartered in Downtown Dallas. ''D Magazine'' covers a range of topics including politics, business, food, fashion and lifestyle in the city of Dallas. The first iss ...

article chose Morris as one of the best football players to ever come out of a Dallas high school. As the article asserted, "When Wayne Morris was at SOC in the early Seventies, he was the best all-around high school football player in Texas. As a junior he made second-team all-state on defense; as a senior he made first-team all-state on offense.""Gridiron Greats,"
''D Magazine''.

College football

In college, Morris was a freshman starter at

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

, where he starred at running back. As

Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ear ...

wrote in

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

during Morris's freshman year, "Wayne Morris is already being pronounced the greatest thing to come to the school (SMU) since

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played professi ...

." Morris went on to rush for over 3000 yards during his college career."A locomotive for the class of 1976,"
''Sports Illustrated''.

Professional football

Morris was selected in the 5th round of the 1976 NFL Draft by the

Cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

. He also played for the

Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

during his 8 years in the NFL. During his NFL career, Morris ran for 3,387 yards on 899 attempts, scoring 38 rushing touchdowns. He also caught 156 passes for 1,190 yards and 5 receiving touchdowns."Wayne Morris,"
''Statscrew''.

After football

He currently resides in Dallas and is single and has one daughter.
''The Dallas Morning News'' sports section online.

References

1954 births Living people Players of American football from Dallas American football running backs SMU Mustangs football players St. Louis Cardinals (football) players San Diego Chargers players {{runningback-1950s-stub