Alfred Morris Is Your Everyday, 'Average Joe'
Ross Kelly, CBS Local Sports
When you attend sporting events, is there a crew of people you see every game that you make sure to greet? Are there people you may not know outside of the stadium/arena, but inside your like best friends? Do you make time to just shoot the breeze with these people and talk about the going-ons in everyday life? This probably sounds like the routine of thousands of fans across the country. This is also the routine of the 2x Pro Bowl running back for the Washington Redskins, Alfred Morris.
Morris may be the humblest athlete in all of sports and that's not hyperbole. Before every home game, Morris meets with those who work in security or guest services at FedEx Field and, literally, just hangs out with his friends. The Washington Post has a great feature on Morris during pregame and it goes into detail about how the friendship between the NFL player and the stadium workers evolved.
When asked how this get-together came to be, you can just feel the humility in Morris' every word:
“I mean, I’m a person just like anybody else. You’re a person; I’m a person; but just because I play a game, they elevate me. I’m a normal, everyday person; I just happen to play football in the NFL… I ain’t no better than the next person. That’s just the way I look at life, man. In God’s eyes, we’re all equal, so why should I act like I’m better than anybody else when I’m not?”
This humility is rare to see in today's age. Fans often puts athletes on a pedestal and forget that most see themselves as just regular people who happen to make a living playing sports. With all of the controversy surrounding the Redskins' team name, their quarterbacks, and their front office; it's refreshing to see a profile of something positive coming out of Washington. Let's just hope that Morris, a 2016 free agent, isn't the next thing 'out of Washington'.
Ross Kelly is an Associated Producer for CBS Local Sports. He is from Louisiana and is a fan of all sports, but not of any teams (except LSU). He can be reached at ross.kelly@cbs.com.
