Johnnie Morant

[sufandu]

No one underachieved more than Shelby Hill. On one list, Hill went into his senior year as the highest rated player with regard to NFL draft rankings and disappeared after one year in NFL Europe.

I never saw combine numbers on him, but I never thought of him as being overwhelmingly talented. He struck me as a very good college player that benefited from playing on good teams, who's game did translate that well to the pros.

 

[sufandu]

Could the way Morants career played out be a reason why a lot of NJ coaches stopped sending top kids to Cuse?

I think that was a multifaceted thing where the loss of P and Deleone, whom the highschool coaches had good relationships with, combined with Rutgers improving, and GROB sucking killed us in NJ.

 

[VirginiaOrange]

I never saw combine numbers on him, but I never thought of him as being overwhelmingly talented. He struck me as a very good college player that benefited from playing on good teams, who's game did translate that well to the pros.

Shelby was more into art, music, etc than football. One of those guys who just happened to be very good at something that was not the most important part of his life.

The rankings I referred to were not combine numbers rather ratings going into his senior year.

 

[Scooch]

he was a skill player.

you either have skill...or you dont. (and sadly, sometimes what little skill one has maybe more than what skill is on the rest of the roster).

its not like he needed to put on weight and get stronger.

does anyone think that 1 more year really wouldve mattered??

he spent that year on the raiders taxi squad i believe, he wouldve been getting all the coaching he wouldve needed at that point.

and if i recall correctly, he DID NOT want to redshirt and wasnt interested in becoming a TE.

and ones hands often dont get softer.

His senior year he caught 46 balls for 799 yards and 5 TDs. 17.4 yards per catch. That was 2003.

If he was around for 2004 he would have had Perry Patterson throwing to him, which was no worse than RJ.

Our leading receivers in '04 were Jared Jones and Steve Gregory -- you remember, the guy who ended up playing corner in the NFL. Methinks Johnnie Morant could have improved that unit some.

Would he have ended up having a great NFL career? No. But he would have made that '04 team better, and then maybe they win 1 more game, win the Big East outright, go to the BCS, and the Greg Robinson era never happens?

His redshirt frosh year was a disaster. Didn't he get like 2 snaps in the opener against Buffalo and then never saw the field again? Ugh.

 

[PeteCalvin]

Really weird that they didn't redshirt him.

Didn't they burn his redshirt in a blowout win against Buffalo? Typical Coach P move. He loved burning shirts.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Speaking of Steve Gregory...I had no idea he was the one who scored on the Mark Sanchez "buttfumble" play.

 

[Scooch]

Speaking of Steve Gregory...I had no idea he was the one who scored on the Mark Sanchez "buttfumble" play.

Yes, he was also one of the guys on my Pats who didn't murder someone last year.

As far as we know.

Oh Lord

 

[jgeorge322]

wo wo wo I would not call Morant a huge disappointment Lobdell yes

yea definitely not a huge disappointment.

 

[Cadillac]

His redshirt frosh year was a disaster. Didn't he get like 2 snaps in the opener against Buffalo and then never saw the field again? Ugh.

Could be, we left after we hit 56.

I thought he only played a couple snaps much later in the season in garbage time, and he was really not ready. The outcry his senior year was justified IMO.

Cool dude though. A fixture at Konrad's.

 

[Eric15]

I'm friends with Dennis Goldman's (SU's WR coach during that time) son, and he would tell me that Morant had major problems comprehending the playbook, particularly one as complex as P & D's. He would always have to line up on whatever side of the field the SU bench was on, and the coaches would directly signal to him what route to run.

I'm not saying that to put him down, just stating a fact. I met Johnnie during a spring game meet-and-greet and he was one of the absolute friendliest players on the team.

 

[DownTheField]

I'm friends with Dennis Goldman's (SU's WR coach during that time) son, and he would tell me that Morant had major problems comprehending the playbook, particularly one as complex as P & D's. He would always have to line up on whatever side of the field the SU bench was on, and the coaches would directly signal to him what route to run.

I'm not saying that to put him down, just stating a fact. I met Johnnie during a spring game meet-and-greet and he was one of the absolute friendliest players on the team.

I had a small stats section class with him. Probably not the smartest, but a real nice guy. He always showed up for class though.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Chip]

he was a skill player.

you either have skill...or you dont. (and sadly, sometimes what little skill one has maybe more than what skill is on the rest of the roster).

its not like he needed to put on weight and get stronger.

does anyone think that 1 more year really wouldve mattered??

he spent that year on the raiders taxi squad i believe, he wouldve been getting all the coaching he wouldve needed at that point.

and if i recall correctly, he DID NOT want to redshirt and wasnt interested in becoming a TE.

and ones hands often dont get softer.

Maybe they shouldn't have "redshirted" him. But he shouldn't have seen the field that season. He only played in, I think, 2 games. And it was completely mop up duty. So after the season you say, I know you were promised not to be redshirted, so we can do this one of two ways.

I wouldn't have minded seeing him a 5th year. He had his faults, but was clearly much better in year 4 than year 3, and so on down... But you are right in another post, who would have been throwing him the ball in 2004 might have made 2003 look like the high water mark.

 

[Shaggy]

JM was athletic enough to probably make the basketball team and maybe even get some PT. I have personally played against him, amazing dribble drive and finish, dunked like crazy, and had a true to form jump shot that was good far behind the 3 point line.

 

[SWC75]

I remember reading an long article on Johnnie that implied that he wasn't really that fascinated with football but saw it as a means of making a lot of money. My Mom knew Mandell Robinson, (she was a teacher at his high schools) and had said the same thing about him- he wasn't really passionate about football but saw it as the route to riches. That's not enough. it's a highly competitive, demanding profession and you've got to have a burning desire to succeed and excel to make it big. I think there are a lot of guys like Mandell and Johnny who are blessed with athletic bodies and maybe even talents specific to a game who don't make it big because they just don't have that burning desire.

If there is a God, I think he has a sense of humor. He often gifts people with capabilities in areas they don't care about.

 

[OrangeBlood]

First SU football player to wear the "Revo" helmet?

I just remember how ugly they were when they first came out and him wearing one.

 

[SUFaninNJ]

I remember him mostly for his blue lip ring.

 

[sufandu]

Shelby was more into art, music, etc than football. One of those guys who just happened to be very good at something that was not the most important part of his life.

The rankings I referred to were not combine numbers rather ratings going into his senior year.

I understood what ratings you were referring to. The reason I didn't consider him a disappointment was because he had a very good college career, set the single season catch record and much more productive than Morant, and it's always a crapshoot as to how well someone does after college. Johnnie Morant was much more physically gifted than Hill and never came close to taking advantage of his gifts in college.

 

[HOFCeluck]

I remember Morant..he was at SU the same time I was at the other school on the East side. but I had no idea he was THAT big a deal coming out of HS.

so I guess you could say he was the football version of Paul Harris amirite?

 

[RMH44]

I remember Morant..he was at SU the same time I was at the other school on the East side. but I had no idea he was THAT big a deal coming out of HS.

so I guess you could say he was the football version of Paul Harris amirite?

Not a bad comparison...except Morant was far less bizarre.

 

[jgeorge322]

I remember him mostly for his blue lip ring.

i thought it was a tongue ring? chris rock said it best...

 

[SUFaninNJ]

i thought it was a tongue ring? chris rock said it best...

You might be right. It's been awhile.

 

[MadNY3]

Mike Williams became what we thought Morant would.

 

[kirbivore]

3 seasons with the Raiders, played in 15 games, 2 of which were starts. Total stats were 8 catches for 90 yards, also 2 fumbles.