Mighty Morris Makes Right Choice

Carl Morris was not born with the football bug. He did not dream of Super Bowls and Candlestick Park.

Instead, the 6'3 sophomore wide receiver, who hails from Virginia, was born and bred a soccer nut. He had the pedigree: his British mother's father had been a star for English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United. So Morris focused on soccer for most of his youth.

"I always liked football, but I always played soccer," Morris said. "My parents didn't like Pop Warner [youth] football. They didn't think the coaches knew what they were doing."

Morris's transition to football was discrete. He attended a private boarding school in Alexandria, Va., and didn't play his first two years. But something about being away from home, away from parental supervision, drove Morris to make a life-changing decision.

"Right before junior year, I decided to drop soccer and play football," Morris said. "I didn't tell my parents until right before summer practice began."

Starting football late didn't hurt Morris, a naturally gifted and speedy athlete. He played wide receiver, cornerback, kicker and punter and was also penciled in as a backup quarterback. Senior year he led his high school to an undefeated season and earned a first-team All-Virginia award at cornerback. He was also a CNN/SI First Team All-Region and an All-America nominee.

Morris was recruited as both a cornerback and wide receiver, but the latter was more important to him. He looked at Virginia, North Carolina and Washington, among others, before turning his attention to the Ivy League. In classic Harvard fashion, it was family ties that sealed the deal.

"[Senior strong safety] Mike Brooks is my cousin, and so he showed me around," Morris said. "It was a lot different than what I expected, and Mike helped me make the decision."

Once here, Morris knew he was going to make an impact. Terrence Patterson '00 was the team's premier receiver last season, but injuries had left some openings for the freshmen.

"[Offensive Coordinator Jay] Mills called me in the summer and told me I should start learning the offense, which is pretty complex," Morris said. "That was one sign that told me I was going to get a shot, that they would need me to play."

Freshman year was a successful introduction for Morris. Patterson was the team's top receiver, and Morris was right behind him with the second-most receptions. His biggest games came against Columbia and Dartmouth.

"Both Brad [Wilford '00] and Rich [Linden '00] were awesome--they took me aside and helped me develop," Morris said, referring to Harvard's two quarterbacks from 1999.

With Patterson graduating, the sophomore assumed the mantle as the go-to receiver for this season. Playing both split end and punt returner, Morris has come up with big plays in key situations. In an early season match-up against Brown, Morris set a school record for total receiving yards in a game with 220 yards on 10 catches, including touchdown receptions of 63 and 80 yards.

But there have been ups and downs throughout the season for Morris. Against Lafayette, for example, Morris failed to show up, getting one catch for three yards. Luckily, Harvard didn't need him in winning 42-19.

In a big game a few weeks later against Princeton, however, Morris was in form, catching five passes for 87 yards. His 25-yard touchdown reception also proved to be a turning point in the close game.

The next week against Dartmouth, Morris had one reception, but the Crimson won 49-7. Morris was huge, though, in last week's loss to Penn. He was on the receiving end of half of junior quarterback Neil Rose's 16 completions, and had two long touchdown receptions.

"My main weakness is inconsistency, and every once in a while you just hit a lapse," Morris said. "But I'm working really hard to improve on that."

One of the keys to his success is his talented teammates in the receiving corps, including sophomore Kyle Cremarosa and junior Sam Taylor, who deflect defensive attention away from him.

"We knew we had a strong receiving squad returning, and it was important for us to establish an identity," Morris said. "So far we've done a really good job, and everyone is taking responsibility for themselves."

The numbers certainly bear that out.

Junior quarterback Neil Rose has been blasting through records, setting Harvard single-season marks for completions (175) and yards passing in a season (2,345). Morris has been a major part of that, leading the team with 778 yards on 47 catches through nine games. In fact, Rose set the passing yards record on a 77-yard touchdown pass to Morris after he caught the ball seven yards from scrimmage and legged out the last 70.

"I like getting isolation coverage, going one-on-one," Morris said. "It puts me in a position to make plays. On the big plays, I have to make the first guy miss, and then it's pretty much a footrace. I like it when the defense is scrambling."

The former soccer nut now is an avowed football devotee. Morris readily admits his commitment to football rarely leaves him time for much else. The economics concentrator, however, did take advantage of his summer in the area. He worked for a property management group near Government Center while training in the off-season.

"I don't know what I really want to get into. I thought about I-banking for a while," Morris said. "But I think I want to run a business."

For the time being, Morris concerns himself with running solid routes and is good at improvising with the ball. His outright speed and vertical ability make him the team's main receiver and punt returner, but perhaps most telling is his relationship with Rose.

"It took us a while to get used to different quarterbacks in preseason, you know, looking for 'the one,'" Morris said, commenting on the early quarterback controversy between sophomore Barry Wahlberg, Rose and freshman Conor Black. "Once we found Neil, it made me very comfortable."

Morris's trust in Rose stems from the past summer. Both players stayed in Cambridge over vacation, working on improving their game. For Morris, it was an opportunity not only to gain the conditioning he would need for star status (it would be only his fourth year of competitive football), but also to form a connection with the man who would be throwing him the ball.

"One of the most important things Neil did this summer was step up and do what he had to do--running, passing and so on," Morris said. "I did the same thing. We spent time in the weight room together. We threw around, getting a feel for each other. He got everything down. This summer we really bonded."

The Rose-to-Morris combination is crucial to Harvard's success in The Game, which ought to feature plenty of offense. Although he is disappointed that Harvard is out of Ivy title contention, Morris is not a "coulda, shoulda" player. He took the Cornell and Penn losses to heart, but insists he will be up for Yale.

"I look forward to playing the best teams," Morris says. "The bigger the game, the more I get up for it."

There is no bigger game than The Game, and Harvard definitely needs Morris to be up for it.