Johnnie Morton

Johnnie James "Big Play" Morton, Jr. (born October 7, 1971) is a former NFL wide receiver. Originally drafted by the Lions in the 1st round (21st overall) in the 1994 NFL Draft, he played in Detroit until 2002. He subsequently signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he played for three seasons. In 2005, he signed with the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers cut him after the 2005 season and he retired from pro football shortly thereafter.

College Career

Morton was born in Inglewood, California. He played at the University of Southern California. Morton managed to break 12 USC and Pac-10 records for receptions and yards. Morton is nicknamed "Johnnie Hero" by USC broadcaster Pete Arbogast, thanks to a game-winning touchdown pass Morton and in the 1990 USC-UCLA a 23-yard strike from Todd Marinovich with 16 seconds left in the game to give the Trojans a 45-42 win.

Professional Career

After being drafted by Detroit, Morton would go on to achieve an important secondary role on a deep Lions' receiving corps that also featured Pro Bowl flanker Herman Moore and veteran Brett Perriman. After learning the ropes as a rookie in 1994, Morton became Detroit's featured slot receiver in 1995 and a key contributor on special teams as a kickoff/punt returner. Morton was part of one of the most prolific offenses in Detroit history that year, as the Lions would rack up 436 total points (second highest in the NFL) and end up with ten victories - appearing in the playoffs for the third straight season. He contributed 44 receptions on that team for 590 yards and 8 touchdowns. Perhaps his most memorable game occurred that same season during a classic Thanksgiving Day game in Detroit against the Minnesota Vikings. Moore (127 yards), Perriman (153), and Johnnie Morton (102) all eclipsed the 100-yard receiving mark, and Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders rushed for 138 yards, and quarterback Scott Mitchell passed for 410 yards in a 44-38 Lions' shootout victory.

After the departure of Perriman, Morton became more of a featured receiver in Detroit's offense in the ensuing years. His best season statistically was during the 1999 season when he had 80 receptions for 1129 yards on a surprising Lions team that made the playoffs that year, despite the unexpected retirement of Barry Sanders. All told, Morton finished his pro career with 624 receptions for 8719 yards and 43 touchdowns. He currently ranks second on Detroit's all-time list in both receptions and yards-receiving, with 469 and 6,499, respectively.

Personal

• Johnnie's younger brother, Chad Morton, also played at USC.

• The Mortons are of mixed ethnicity, African-American and Japanese.

• Johnnie had a brief cameo appearance in the movie Jerry Maguire.

Miscellaneous

• During the 2001 season, comedian Jay Leno had been poking fun at the Lions' 0-12 record. When the Lions won their first game of the season 27-24 against the Minnesota Vikings, Morton, who knew of Leno's comments, said, "Jay Leno can kiss my ass." Morton later appeared on The Tonight Show,^[1] during which Leno proceeded to kiss a donkey.

Mixed martial arts record

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

• TSN Bio
• Article on K-1 press conference regarding June 2 event.
• Sherdog.com interview with Morton about making his MMA debut.
• Professional MMA record.
• CSAC Indefinitely Suspends Morton.