49ers' Morgan out to prove he's no risk

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 29, 2008 | by Mark Emmons

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers have had more than their share of high- maintenance wide receivers. Terrell Owens, Antonio Bryant and Brandon Lloyd spring to mind.

So it came as a surprise that they were willing to take a chance on Josh Morgan.

At Virginia Tech, he had a brush with the law that resulted in him getting pepper-sprayed.

One pre-draft analysis critiqued Morgan for loafing, poor concentration and being "too selfish."

"I have an asterisk next to my name," said Morgan, who knows exactly why he lasted until the 174th pick of the April draft despite being the Hokies' No. 2 career pass-catcher.

But here's where it gets interesting. For a guy with an alleged sketchy resume, Morgan sure makes a favorable impression. Everything is "yes sir" and "no sir."

There is no lack of people who insist he is an upstanding citizen.

Oh, and did we mention that he writes poetry?

"There always will be questions about me because of that incident in college," Morgan said. "But the 49ers asked a lot about it and what they found out is that I'm not a bad kid at all."

It also appears that he's not a bad receiver, either. Morgan is drawing good early reviews for his work in the 49ers' revamped offense under coordinator Mike Martz.

"He catches your eye," 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. "He really looks the part."

In fact, when you look a little deeper, you see something completely unexpected.

General manager Scot McCloughan made it clear the team had done its due diligence before taking Morgan in the sixth round. And for his part, Morgan seems honestly thrilled to be with the 49ers -- despite his low draft position -- in part because he idolized Jerry Rice.

Morgan will have to earn his way onto the roster, but he knows what it's like to beat the odds. He grew up in Washington, D.C., and he describes his neighborhood in stark terms.

Shootings. Friends going to jail. Hopelessness.

"Not a lavish area," agreed Greg Fuller, Morgan's high school coach.

Athletics was a way to focus on something positive. Whatever sport was in season, he played for H.D. Woodson High. That's how he became friends with an athlete from rival Dunbar High -- current 49ers tight end Vernon Davis.

"We're two of the few people who made it out of D.C., so it's a blessing," Morgan said.

"You just go to church. You say your prayers every night. You try to see the bigger picture.

"I wanted to get away from everything I saw everyone else doing."

Fuller noticed him playing basketball in junior high school. You, Fuller told Morgan, are going to be a receiver. He also encouraged Morgan to avoid "the neighborhood general managers -- the people who bring our kids down."

Morgan also became close to his AAU coach, Patrick Gaither, and his wife, Sonja Strickland-Gaither. He calls them his godparents because "I feel like God sent them to be my extra set of parents."

Athletics wasn't his only outlet. One of the ways he avoided trouble was simply to not leave his house much. He developed a coping mechanism for the rough world around him -- he started writing.

"I would get tired of hearing the gunshots and police sirens," he said. "That's why I started writing stories and poetry. I write about how I grew up, situations that I've been through, people I've known in my life."

But it was football that brought him to Virginia Tech. There, his uplifting story took a downward turn.

Around 2 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2006, Morgan was among a large group of people outside a bar in Blacksburg, Va. A policeman saw Morgan punch the driver's side window of a truck. Morgan was doused with pepper spray and arrested with a teammate.

Morgan calls it a misunderstanding that swirled out of control. In court, the cop spoke on the players' behalf, saying he hadn't seen the truck almost strike Morgan. The judge said at sentencing that the testimony is why he decided against jail time.

His "godmother," Strickland-Gaither, added: "I'm not condoning what he did. But you have to remember that all of us are human and we all have a point of anger when we feel like we're in danger. To me, that's not him. Joshua is a gentle giant."

Morgan's troubles were far overshadowed by a horrific tragedy a few months later. He was in the next campus building when a student, Seung-Hui Cho, went on a shooting spree that left 32 people dead -- the worst rampage in U.S. history.

"It was surreal," he said. "You couldn't go anywhere on campus without seeing people breaking down and crying."

The football team, Morgan said, became a rallying point last season for the rest of Virginia Tech as the school recovered from the tragedy.

By the time his career concluded, Morgan had 122 receptions. During predraft testing, he led all receivers in weight-lifting drills and with a 38-inch vertical jump. NFL teams also noticed the hard-muscled 219 pounds on his 6-foot frame.

But in this age of Pacman Jones, the arrest was a red flag. His attitude also was put under the microscope. Pro Football Weekly' criticized him for poor body language.

"Teams were looking for things that they could add to fit a pattern," he said. "The biggest question about me was: Is he selfish or really passionate about the game? Well I want to win so badly and sometimes I wear my emotions on my sleeve. I'm going to show that I'm frustrated, but I'm not going to let that affect the next play."