Johnnie Morton

Johnnie Morton

No. 87, 80, 84
Position:	Wide receiver
Personal information
Born:	(1971-10-07) October 7, 1971 (age 46) Inglewood, California
Height:	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:	193 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:	Torrance (CA) South
College:	USC
NFL Draft:	1994 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21
Career history
Detroit Lions (1994–2001) Kansas City Chiefs (2002–2004) San Francisco 49ers (2005)
Career highlights and awards
Consensus All-American (1993) Pop Warner Trophy (1993)
Career NFL statistics
Receptions: 624 Receiving yards: 8,719 Receiving touchdowns: 43 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Johnnie James Morton Jr. (born October 7, 1971) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was recognized as an All-American in 1993. Originally drafted by the Detroit Lions in the first round in the 1994 NFL Draft, he also played professionally for the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers of the NFL. Morton also had a brief career in mixed martial arts fighting in 2007.

Contents

• 
  1 Early years
  


• 
  2 College career
  


• 
  3 Professional career
  
  • 
    3.1 NFL statistics
    
  
  


• 
  4 Personal life
  


• 
  5 Mixed martial arts record
  


• 
  6 See also
  


• 
  7 References
  


• 
  8 External links
  

Early years

Morton was born in Inglewood, California. He attended South High School in Torrance, California, and played for the South High Spartans high school football team.

College career

While attending the University of Southern California, Morton played for the USC Trojans football team from 1990 to 1993. He broke twelve USC team and Pacific-10 Conference records for receptions and receiving yards. Morton was nicknamed "Big Play Morton" by Tom Kelly, and "Johnnie Hero" by USC broadcaster Pete Arbogast, thanks to a game-winning touchdown pass Morton caught in the 1990 USC-UCLA rivalry game—a 23-yard strike from Trojans quarterback Todd Marinovich with 16 seconds left that gave the Trojans a 45-42 come-from-behind victory.

Professional career

Detroit selected Morton in the first round (21st overall pick) of the 1994 NFL Draft, and he played for the Lions from 1994 to 2001. He 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 third on Detroit's all-time list in both receptions and yards-receiving, with 469 and 6,499, respectively.

NFL statistics

Receiving Stats^[1]

Year	Team	Games	Receptions	Yards	Yards per Reception	Longest Reception	Touchdowns	First Downs	Fumbles	Fumbles Lost
1994	DET	14	3	39	13.0	18	1	2	0	0
1995	DET	16	44	590	13.4	32	8	29	0	0
1996	DET	16	55	714	13.0	62	6	31	1	1
1997	DET	16	80	1,057	13.2	73	6	51	2	0
1998	DET	16	69	1,028	14.9	98	2	48	0	0
1999	DET	16	80	1,129	14.1	48	5	52	0	0
2000	DET	16	61	788	12.9	42	3	40	1	1
2001	DET	16	77	1,154	15.0	76	4	58	1	1
2002	KC	14	29	397	13.7	30	1	25	0	0
2003	KC	16	50	740	14.8	50	4	36	0	0
2004	KC	13	55	795	14.5	52	3	38	1	1
2005	SF	13	21	288	13.7	30	0	14	0	0
Career		182	624	8,719	14.0	98	43	424	6	4

Personal life

Morton's older brother, Michael Morton, played at UNLV and younger brother, Chad Morton played at USC. The Morton family is of African-American and Japanese ethnicity.

Morton had a brief cameo appearance in the movie Jerry Maguire and the television series Moesha.

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, "I got the damn monkey off my back, off Marty's back, and I want Jay Leno to kiss my ass." Morton later appeared on The Tonight Show,^[2] during which Leno kissed a donkey.

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
1 match	0 wins	1 loss
By knockout	0	1

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	0-1	Bernard Ackah	KO (punch)	K-1 Dynamite!! USA	June 2, 2007	1	0:38		Morton tested positive for illegal substances.[3]

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

References

1. 
   ^ "Johnnie Morton Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 13 May 2014. 
   


2. 
   ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0728472/
   


3. 
   ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/Morton-Tests-Positive-for-Steroids-7893
   

External links

• Professional MMA record.

v t e Pop Warner Trophy winners

1950 Pomeroy 1952 Sears 1953 B. Garrett 1954 Shaw 1955 Davenport 1956 Arnett 1957 Francis 1958 Kapp 1959 Burford 1960 Kilmer 1962 Baker 1963 Burke 1964 Morton 1965 M. Garrett 1966 Pifer 1967 Beban 1968 Simpson 1969 Parish 1970 Plunkett 1971 Siemon 1972 Rae 1973 Swann 1974 Davis 1975 Muncie 1976 Bell 1977 Benjamin 1978 Robinson 1979 White 1980 Margerum 1981 Allen 1982 Elway 1983 Rivera 1984 Del Rio 1985 Mayes 1986 Wyman 1988 Peete 1989 Ryan 1990 Lewis 1991 Vardell 1992 Milburn 1993 Morton 1994 Stenstrom 1995 Johnson 1996 Plummer 1997 Hicks 1998 McNown 1999 O'Neal 2000 Tuiasosopo 2002 Palmer 2003 Ball 2004 Arrington

v t e 1993 College Football All-America Team consensus selections
Offense	QB Charlie Ward RB Marshall Faulk RB LeShon Johnson WR J. J. Stokes WR Johnnie Morton OL Mark Dixon OL Stacy Seegars OL Aaron Taylor OL Wayne Gandy C Jim Pyne
Defense	DL Rob Waldrop DL Dan Wilkinson DL Sam Adams LB Trev Alberts LB Derrick Brooks LB Jamir Miller DB Antonio Langham DB Aaron Glenn DB Jeff Burris DB Corey Sawyer
Special Teams	PK Bjorn Merten P Terry Daniel KR David Palmer

v t e 1994 NFL draft first-round selections
Dan Wilkinson Marshall Faulk Heath Shuler Willie McGinest Trev Alberts Trent Dilfer Bryant Young Sam Adams Antonio Langham Jamir Miller John Thierry Aaron Glenn Joe Johnson Bernard Williams Wayne Gandy Aaron Taylor Charles Johnson Dewayne Washington Todd Steussie Tim Bowens Johnnie Morton Rob Fredrickson Shante Carver Thomas Lewis Greg Hill Henry Ford Jeff Burris William Floyd Derrick Alexander

v t e Detroit Lions first-round draft picks

Wagner Cardwell Wojciechowicz Pingel Nave Thomason Westfall Sinkwich Graham Szymanski Dellastatious G. Davis Tittle Rauch Hart Watson Sewell Chapman Middleton Cassady Glass Karras Pietrosante Robinson Hadl D. Sanders Beathard Nowatzke Farr Landry McCullouch Owens Bell Orvis Price O'Neil Boden Hunter Gaines Bradley Dorney B. Sims Nichols J. Williams J. Jones Lewis L. Brown Long R. Rogers Blades B. Sanders Ware Moore Porcher Morton Elliss R. Brown Hartings Westbrook Fair Claiborne Gibson McDougle Backus Harrington C. Rogers R. Williams K. Jones M. Williams E. Sims Johnson Cherilus Stafford Pettigrew Suh Best Fairley Reiff Ansah Ebron Tomlinson Decker J. Davis Ragnow

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