Morris Shines at Shrine Game

You wouldn’t know it was a bear market the way Carl Morris’ stock just keeps going up.

The senior wide receiver likely improved his chances in this April’s NFL draft by impressing league scouts Saturday afternoon with his performance at the 78th Annual East-West Shrine Game, played in San Francisco’s Pac Bell Park and televised for a national audience on ESPN.

Morris, an All-American who earlier this year was named the Ivy League’s Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season, finished the game with two catches for 42 yards, a live sideline interview and a rave review from an NFL executive.

Bill Polian, the general manager for the Indianapolis Colts, called Morris “the surprise of the game” when interviewed in the third quarter by ESPN analyst Mike Golic. Polian told Golic that Morris’ one-handed grab in the first quarter impressed him, especially coming from a player from a Division I-AA football program.

Polian was referring to Morris’ 24-yard highlight-reel reception of a pass from Heisman finalist Ken Dorsey on the East’s second offensive series of the game. Dorsey, who last week led the Miami Hurricanes in the national championship game, tossed a rising spiral to Morris on a seam route that the Harvard senior corralled using only his left hand.

“I just did what comes naturally,” said Morris, who is accustomed to making such athletic displays look easy.

Dunster House Master Roger B. Porter, who sent an email to fellow Dunsterites encouraging them to watch Saturday’s game, agreed that the play was typical of his stellar resident.

“[That] catch was absolutely spectacular, the kind of catch those of us who have watched him for four years have come to recognize as vintage Carl Morris,” Porter said in an e-mail.

ESPN sideline reporter Dave Ryan interviewed Morris live after his circus catch. Morris told Ryan he was happy to be playing with the best athletes in the nation while representing football players from “small schools” like Harvard.

“It was a very important experience for me to go out and play since there were some doubts about how I would fare against [Div. I-A players],” Morris said yesterday. “I feel much more comfortable now that I’ve had this experience to play against those guys.”

Morris’ only other catch came on Dorsey’s first completion of the game, an 18-yard strike that gave the East squad its first first-down of the contest.

The East-West Shrine Game, which is the nation’s premier All-Star game for senior football players, has been played annually since 1925. The game’s mission, aside from showcasing potential pro talent, is to raise money for the 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children nationwide. To date, it has raised more than $14 million.

Morris and the other players visited a local Shriners Hospital last Tuesday morning as part of the week’s activities, stopping by to play games with the young patients.

“Playing bingo and air hockey with the kids was great,” Morris said. “It really put the whole week in perspective for us and made us aware of how lucky and blessed we are.”

In addition to the East-West Shrine Game, Morris also plans on showcasing his talent among the nation’s elite in the Hula Bowl next month alongside Crimson teammate Neil T. Rose ’02-’03.

Morris, who holds eight of the nine major school receiving records, will graduate in June as one of Harvard’s most decorated football players and will likely be remembered as the finest wide receiver in the team’s 129-year history.

—Evan Powers contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Daniel E. Fernandez can be reached at dfernand@fas.harvard.edu.