Morris emerges as a star this season for Force

June 19, 2008 | 10:15 AM
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DULUTH – It's been a year of contrasts for this Georgia Force team versus their counterparts last season.

While both teams won the Southern Division, it was a matter of how they did it that raises some eyebrows. Last year they were models of consistency, only losing two games in the regular season, this year it has taken a seven game win streak to get them back to the top.

One of the marks of the Force's consistency last season was the trio of receivers that stayed intact throughout the year: Derek Lee, Reggie Jackson and Troy Bergeron. But the team did not re-sign the first two and the team was left with big shoes to fill at the wideout spot.

Luckily, someone who had been there all along was ready to embrace the possibility of a starting role and increased playing time: Carl Morris. In his third year with the squad, the receiver out of Harvard is having bar none the best season of his career.

"It's all about opportunity," he said. "They've let me loose and I've proven myself."

It's now Morris who is the mark of consistency on offense, being the only receiver to start all 15 games for the club this season.

All it takes is a look at the numbers to see how much better Morris is doing as one of the leaders on offense. Last season he put up 14 receptions for 145 yards and 5 touchdowns, while this year he's blown those out of the water by going for 118 receptions, 1,321 yards and 23 TDs.

The proof of Morris' success came at the beginning of June when the AFL named him its Offensive Player of the Week when he rattled off a career day against the Tampa Bay Storm with 157 yards and 15 catches, three of which led to touchdowns. Twice this year he has hauled in four scores, including last week at home to Chicago.

Last season Morris hurt his ankle the second day of training camp and was unable to go for much of the season. In what he called the toughest point in his career, he had to think twice about playing football again. As time wore on he got back into playing form, but it was still tough to crack the nearly unstoppable trio at receiver.

This season, the team has really needed him as it was a revolving door early in the season. Bergeron missed four games, including a stretch of three in a row during the slow start. Newcomer Charles Pauley, signed from Philadelphia, started out very strong in his first few games, but got injured a few weeks in and his since missed all game action.

But, with Bergeron healthy and rookie standout Tiger Jones really hitting his stride, the Force now have a new trio, which may not be nearly as potent as last year's deadly offense, it's still one to be feared across the league.

Morris doesn't just have experience playing on one side of the ball. When called upon, Morris will be part of the secondary and has had some success, including notching an interception in his debut season.

"It feels good when you get an interception, it means we get the ball back and I'll get another chance to score," he said. "I like playing defense, I got hit all game, so it's fun to go out there and dish it out right back."

In the AFL, players who have strong games playing on both sides of the ball can win the Ironman of the Game award, and Morris has done so three times this season, including in the Chicago win last week. For that, the league has bestowed upon him the Ironman of the Week award this week.

Morris has benefited from considerable experience on several NFL practice squads including the Colts, Chargers and Dolphins. He said getting to work with all-world players like Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Drew Brees really helped him to hone his own game.

Before that, the man from just outside of Washington D.C. had a very successful career in the Ivy League, winning Ivy League Player of the Year his junior and senior year as well as garnering All American recognition. He majored in economics while in school and said he'd be working in that field if it weren't for his talents with the pigskin.

"I actually interviewed with some firms on Wall Street at one point between training camps," he said. "I was looking to get into investment banking, but given the state of the market these days, many weren't hiring."

He said one day when his football career winds down he plans on going into business. Wall Street is a tough place to crack into as someone older, and he said that the long hours and stress of the job could be taxing on the body.

While Morris has worked hard all his life to get where he is today, he's a student of the game, and said he still has more learning to do.

Though I miss the triple threat we had last year... Tiger Jones and Morris are emerging as able replacements...

Well with us resigning Carl we now have Troy and Carl signed If we keep Tiger signed we will have a great receiving core for next year.I like how they have come together during the season.GO FORCE

I thought we lost Chris Jackson. Did we have old retired baseball players on our team last year? :blink: