Alfred Morris (American football)

Alfred Morris (born December 12, 1988) is an American football running back for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Redskins. He played college football for Florida Atlantic University.

Early life
Alfred Morris played football and basketball at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Florida. While he was in sixth grade, he played midget football against another future Pensacola football star, running back Trent Richardson. The two would meet again in their rookie seasons as the Redskins would travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns.

2012 season
Morris was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins. The sixth round draft pick that Washington selected him with was from a trade on July 27, 2011 from the Vikings for Donovan McNabb. He was officially signed by the Redskins to a four-year, $2.22 million contract with a $154,000 signing bonus on May 6, 2012. After having impressive preseason performances, where he started two out of four of the Redskins' preseason games, he emerged as a dark horse in the running back competition with Roy Helu, Evan Royster, and Tim Hightower. He was guaranteed a spot on the final 53-man roster for the start of the 2012 season after Morris sat out of the last preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the rest of the Redskins' starters.

The day before the season opener, coach Mike Shanahan announced that Morris would be the starting running back. In his NFL debut and first career start, he rushed for 96 yards on 28 carries and scored two touchdowns against the New Orleans Saints. Despite the Redskins losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3, Morris put on a great display, recording 78 rushing yards on 17 carries and scoring a touchdown, and was even nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week. The next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had his first 100-yard game; recording 113 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown. On October 7, versus the Atlanta Falcons, Morris rushed for his second career 100 yard game. He was named Rookie of the Week after his performance in Week 7 against the New York Giants, where he rushed for 120 yards on 22 carries. He would later have three consecutive 100-yard performances starting in the Week 12 game against the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. Morris would be named Rookie of the Week for the second time after his performance against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 14.

In the final game of the regular season, Morris ran 33 times for 200 yards and 3 touchdowns, setting two new Redskins franchise records. His effort helped lead the Redskins to a 28-18 victory over their division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, to win the NFC East for the first time since 1999 and earn a playoff spot for the first time since 2007. Finishing the season with a total of 1,613 rushing yards and thirteen touchdowns, he broke Clinton Portis’ rushing record for a single-season of 1,516 yards and Charley Taylor's record of most touchdowns scored in rookie season of ten touchdowns. Morris also became the fourth player in NFL history to ever record over 1,600 rushing yards in his rookie year; ultimately ranking third behind Eric Dickerson and George Rogers, respectively.

With Morris' 1,613 rushing yards combined with 815 rushing yards attained by Robert Griffin III, the two rookies accounted for 90% of the Redskins' total rushing yards for the 2012 regular season, which led the Redskins to finish first in the league in rushing. In the regular season, he also finished second in the league in total rushing yards, only behind Adrian Peterson, and second in league in rushing touchdowns behind Arian Foster.

2013 Season
Prior to the 2013 season, Morris was named to the NFL Network's Top 100 Players of 2013 at #64.

Personal
Morris is the son of Ronald and Yvonne Morris. He has six brothers. His brother, Shawn Morris, is currently playing college football at Birmingham-Southern college and is majoring in mathematics. Despite being able to afford a new car, he still drives his 1991 Mazda 626, which he nicknamed "Bentley”. He drove this car from Boca Raton, Florida to his new D.C. home. Due to the positive publicity, Mazda will refurbish the car free of charge. As part of the refurbishment, the car will receive a new radio featuring a CD player and a navigation system, but will otherwise be restored to factory floor condition.