Kirk Morrison facts for kids
Morrison in 2009
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| No. 52, 55, 58 | |||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | February 19, 1982 Oakland, California, U.S. |
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| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 245 lb (111 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | O'Dowd (Oakland) | ||||||||||||
| College: | San Diego State | ||||||||||||
| NFL Draft: | 2005 / Round: 3 / Pick: 78 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Kirk David Morrison (born February 19, 1982) is a former American football player. He played the linebacker position in the National Football League (NFL). A linebacker is a defensive player who tries to stop the other team from scoring.
He played college football for the San Diego State Aztecs, where he was a star player. In 2005, the Oakland Raiders chose him in the NFL Draft. He later played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills. After his playing career, he became a sports broadcaster.
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Early Life and High School
Kirk Morrison grew up in Oakland, California. He went to Bishop O'Dowd High School, where he was a talented athlete. He played on the school's football and track & field teams.
In football, he was a key player on defense. He helped his team win two league championships and two regional championships. Because of his great performance, he was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year during his senior year.
College Career
After high school, Morrison went to San Diego State University to play football. He had an amazing college career. He was so good that he was named the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year two times in a row, in 2003 and 2004. This award is given to the best defensive player in the entire conference.
Professional NFL Career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand size | 40-yard dash | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
235 lb (107 kg) |
31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9+1⁄4 in (0.23 m) |
4.75 s | 4.28 s | 7.12 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) |
9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) |
25 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day | ||||||||||||
Oakland Raiders (2005–2009)
The Oakland Raiders selected Morrison in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft. He made an impact right away. As a rookie, he played in all 16 games and made 116 tackles.
In the 2006 season, he led the team with 128 tackles. He also had a sack, two interceptions, and even scored a defensive touchdown.
The 2007 season started strong for Morrison. He caught an interception in each of the first three games. He once again led the Raiders in tackles, with 120 for the season.
In 2008, he had one of his best seasons, finishing with 135 tackles, which was the fifth-highest in the entire NFL. During the 2009 season, he played through a dislocated elbow but still managed to get 133 tackles, ranking sixth in the league.
Jacksonville Jaguars (2010)
In 2010, Morrison was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars. On December 12, 2010, he played against his old team, the Oakland Raiders. The Jaguars won the game 38–31. Morrison started all 16 games for Jacksonville that season.
Buffalo Bills (2011–2012)
Morrison signed with the Buffalo Bills in August 2011. He played for the Bills for two seasons, mostly as a backup player. The Bills released him in December 2012 but signed him again for a short time later that month. This was his last team in the NFL.
NFL Career Statistics
This table shows Kirk Morrison's statistics for each year he played in the NFL.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | PD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2005 | OAK | 16 | 15 | 116 | 91 | 25 | 0.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2006 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 128 | 102 | 26 | 1.0 | 14 | 2 | 32 | 0 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 35 | 1 |
| 2007 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 122 | 97 | 25 | 1.0 | 10 | 4 | 94 | 0 | 45 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2008 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 137 | 101 | 36 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009 | OAK | 16 | 16 | 133 | 109 | 24 | 2.0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 2010 | JAX | 16 | 16 | 89 | 64 | 25 | 0.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | BUF | 14 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2012 | BUF | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 | 95 | 734 | 572 | 162 | 6.0 | 46 | 7 | 126 | 0 | 45 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 43 | 1 | ||
Life After Football
After he stopped playing football, Morrison began a new career in broadcasting. He uses his knowledge of the game to talk about football on TV and radio.
In 2013, he worked as a color analyst for San Diego State football games on the radio. A color analyst explains why plays happened and gives expert opinions during the game.
Later, he started working for national networks. In 2014, he became an analyst for NFL on Fox games. In 2016, he joined ESPN Los Angeles to cover the Los Angeles Rams. Since 2017, Morrison has been an analyst for ESPN's college football broadcasts, where he continues to share his love for the sport.
