Dan Morgan
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- For the Australian bushranger, see Dan Morgan (bushranger)
| Dan Morgan | |
|---|---|
| Position(s): Linebacker |
Jersey #(s): 55, 52 |
| Born: December 19, 1978 Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania |
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| Career Information | |
| Year(s): 2001–2007 | |
| NFL Draft: 2001 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11 | |
| College: Miami (Fla.) | |
| Professional Teams | |
| Career Stats | |
| Tackles | 298 |
| Sacks | 7 |
| Interceptions | 5 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Career Highlights and Awards | |
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Daniel Thomas Morgan, Jr. (born December 19, 1978 in Clifton Heights, Pennsylvania) is a former American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the panthers 11th overall in the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Miami.
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[edit] Early years
Morgan attended Taravella High School in Coral Springs, Florida. As a senior, he was an "All-County" pick at tailback, linebacker, and strong safety. As a junior tailback, he rushed for 1,322 yards and 13 touchdowns.
[edit] College career
Morgan started playing college football as a fullback at the University of Miami, but was switched to weakside linebacker one week before the season started. He became the first freshman linebacker to start for the Hurricanes since Ray Lewis in 1993. As a freshman, he was named second-team freshman All-American by the Sporting News after posting 105 tackles, three sacks, and one forced fumble.
As a sophomore, he became the first sophomore team captain in team history, and made the All-Big East Team, after leading the team with 150 tackles. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award and the Nagurski Trophy as a junior, and was rewarded with a second-team All-Big East for collecting 139 tackles and 5 sacks. He finally captured both awards, as well as the Bednarik Award, becoming the first player in NCAA history to win all three awards in a career (and the same year).
Morgan left Miami as an All-American and was the 2000 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Upon graduating, Morgan held the Miami school and Big East conference records for most career tackles with 532.
[edit] Awards and honors
- Second-team Sporting News Freshman All-American (1997)
- First-team All-Big East Conference|Big East (2000)
- Big East Defensive Player of the Year (2000)
- Consensus First-team All-American (2000)
- Dick Butkus Award (2000)
- Bronko Nagurski Trophy (2000)
- Chuck Bednarik Award (2000)
[edit] Professional career
[edit] Carolina Panthers
Dan Morgan was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the first round, with the 11th overall selection, in the 2001 NFL Draft.
In the 2001 season, he started 11 games at weakside and strongside linebacker, posting 75 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception and 1 fumble recovery.
His second season, Morgan helped turn the Panthers from the worst defense in the 2001 NFL season to the second-ranked defense, becoming the first team to make such an improvement in one season. Morgan was also an integral part of the Panthers defense that led the team to Super Bowl XXXVIII, where he posted a career- and team-high 25 tackles in the game. For the 2004 NFL season, he collected 109 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries and five sacks en route to being named the starting linebacker for the NFC in the 2004 Pro Bowl. In the 2005 NFL season, he was second on the team in tackles, behind Marlon McCree.
On February 11, 2008 the Panthers released him.
[edit] New Orleans Saints
Morgan was recently signed by the New Orleans Saints. Being paired with newly acquired middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, and a great defensive line with an improving secondary. Morgan never played a game with New Orleans, as he retired on May 20, 2008 because of plagueing injuries.
[edit] Injuries
Morgan has suffered some concussions in his NFL career which have shortened his recent seasons significantly but was hopeful to come back strong in 2007 and have a great year.
Unfortunately, on November 6, 2007, Morgan was placed on injured reserve by the Carolina Panthers due to an ankle injury[1].
Morgan is excited about his move to New Orleans saying "its a fresh start for my career."
[edit] Retirement
On May 19, 2008 Morgan announced his retirement from the NFL, citing the slow recovery of injuries, particularly a partially torn Achilles tendon suffered during the 2007 season.
[edit] Career statistics
[edit] Regular season
| Defense | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | Tack | Sack | FF | INT | TD | |
| 2001 | Carolina | NFL | 11 | 67 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2002 | Carolina | NFL | 8 | 54 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2003 | Carolina | NFL | 11 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2004 | Carolina | NFL | 12 | 102 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2005 | Carolina | NFL | 13 | 77 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2006 | Carolina | NFL | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007 | Carolina | NFL | 3 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Regular season totals | 59 | 298 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 0 | |||
[edit] Playoffs
| Defense | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | Tack | Sack | FR | INT | TD | |
| 2003-04 | Carolina | NFL | 4 | 57 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2005-06 | Carolina | NFL | 3 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Playoff totals | 7 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
[edit] External links
[edit] References
| Preceded by LaVar Arrington |
Butkus Award Winner 2000 |
Succeeded by Rocky Calmus |
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