Seahawks Defensive Lineman Mike Morris joins Ian Furness

Mike Morris, Seahawks DE joins us and is exactly the personality we expected. He describes his style of play, the type of person he is and what he's looking forward to being in Seattle.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Every now and then you get adraft picked, it just kind of you're
like, WHOA, can't wait totalk to this guy in person, can't
wait to talk to this guy again. And that was the case with one
Mike Morris from the Michigan Wolverines.He joins us right now on the Beacon
Plumbing hot Line, New Seahawk defensivelineman Mike Morris. How are you?
He I can. How are youdoing? Man? This is Ian?

(00:22):
How are you? I'm doing great? Yeah, some great thing to say
about me. So I'm happy.I'm happy to do this conversation with Well,
listen, my man, you youyou kind of you. We're all
sitting there, we're there for alot of hours covering the draft over three
days, and like I said,every now and then somebody comes on You're
like, damn, I can't waittill this guy gets the town. I

(00:43):
can't wait to talk to him,can't wait to interview him for TV and
radio. And you're that guy.Man, you were fun to talk to
you. You were just ecstatic obviouslyto get picked. Here where we are,
what three days later? How areyou feeling right now? Man?
I'm blessed. I'm blessed. Uh. I'm just going over the scheme of
the coach of staff. Stuff likethat. I met some of my fellow
d lemon I got drafted with me. I talked to Olu. Olu be

(01:06):
texting me every day talking sharks too. So, man, I'm just so
excited to get into the city ofSeattle. Man, after ever since,
I'm gonna have my official interview withuh, the coaching staff at the combine.
I just fell in love with thecoaching staff, fell in love with
everybody that was going on. Iknow Boyer because we have we're in the
same agency. He told me aboutSeattle, and I'm looking forward to it.

(01:27):
I'm so happy and excited. Well, you're gonna love it here,
man, It's uh, you know, I'm everybody we talked to player wise
loves playing for Pete and his staff, and the facility is second to none.
And yeah, it's gonna be fantastic. You're gonna You're gonna really enjoy.
Let me read this. This isone of the scouting reports on Mike
Morris. There are big shoes tofill up Michigan along the defensive line,

(01:47):
finding Adan Hutchinson leaving from a yearago, but Mike Morris did so admirably.
He finally broke out this past seasonnine sacks, finished with an eighty
six point eight pass rush rating.That's from PFF Pro Football Focus. I
want you to listen to this becauseI want to get a scouting report from
you on who you are and i'tstalk about OLDI in a second. Two.
This is from Greg co Sell fromNFL Films. He's one of the
most respected people in the country interms of analyzing players and films and so

(02:12):
forth. Works for NFL Films.We had him on just twenty minutes ago.
Mike here. He is talking aboutyou at times watching Mars. You
know who I thought of, andthis is a really good comparison. You'll
remember this player very well and hewas a terrific player for a long time.
He just didn't get a lot ofsacks because of the nature of the
position. I thought of Aaron Smithat the Pittsburgh Steps, and that's a
big guy that did a lot ofdamage on the defensive line for many years.

(02:36):
He was effusive, was Greg,and his praise for you. And
one of the things I told himhe didn't know you put on weight right
you were. You were down totwo seventy five. Then you put weight
back on. Greg says you gota big frame. He says, you
look big on tape. What didthe Seahawks tell you about weight? Oh?
Telling me like anywhere from around likeI feel like two, he said,

(02:57):
Like, I just want you digand lean, but anywhere the two
nineties area, they said, asyou creep up the three hundred. Um,
I wouldn't be mad at it,but the main thing you want me
to be is just leaning fast.Man. I wish you guys a list
them as linebackers. Where do youfeel most comfortable playing? Um, I've
put a couple of playing anywhere aslong as I'm coached to do it,
which is what I explained the coachesand stuff like that. I mean,

(03:19):
if I would have played tomorrow,probably be on the edge because that's where
I'm most comfortable comfortable at. ButI have trusting the coach staff. They're
gonna help me out be the bestplayer that I can be. So I've
been talking to coach Hurt and UM, I have faith to him and the
coaching staff to help me be preparedfor this position that I'm about to play.
And I'm excited and I'm looking totake it on like full force with
an enthusiast, an unknown to mankind, just like coach Hardball says. So

(03:44):
I'm just excited to get rid ofget just getting ready to work, man,
getting ready to work. Mike Morris, Seahawk drafty defensive lineman joining us
here on nine three point three KJRFAM Sports Radio KJR. How does that
sound when I say Mike Morris,Seahawk defensive lineman. Man, it sounds
crazy. Um. I just talkedto um. We talked to coach Hurt
earlier. UM, I think yesterdaywe're going over the film and stuff like

(04:09):
that, and he was talking aboutDan. How does it feel to be
like twenty two years old? Amillionaires? Were like, man, we
broke right now, Like I'm broken. They ain't hitting my account yet.
You know, I'm still one ofMcDonald's, you know. But man,
it feels great. You know,it's a it's a blessing. It's Um,
I'm just again, I just can'twait to get the Seattle um getting

(04:31):
around, my teammates, starting tobuild my build their trust and me and
my coaches as well, and I'mready to just to make the make the
CD of Seattle very happy well,listen, you're not gonna beat McDonald's.
Who get out here, A you'llhave that contract. But B but B
when you get here, wait tillyou see the cafeteria. We all of
us were laughing when you're talking aboutputting on weight and all that and all
the media guys when we sat there. We ate in the cafeteria for the

(04:54):
Seahawks for three days. I thinkwe all put on twenty pounds. So
don't worry about that. You're gonnahave some. You're gonna be fed.
Well, my friend, what doyou think of Clinton Hurt? If you
met Clinton person or just talked toCoach Hurt on the on the phone.
Yeah, I thought I talked tohim in person. I have to I
had to combine. Yeah, Imean I got a really good vibe from
him. He tried to quiz meup and coaching up with a lot of
different stuff, and um man,I was right there just getting everything down.
Like. Uh, I feel likeat Michigan they really uh set the

(05:16):
center high and also very coached usup, very very well in terms of
us knowing the game of football,so in terms of coverages, formations and
all that stuff. I feel likewe're on amid the University of Michigan.
We're on our peas and ques andjust knowing the game of football. I
thought it was interesting. You know, I don't know if you know the
history. You know, Pete Carrolland Jim Harbaugh coached against each other when
Pete was at USC and coach Harballwas at at Stanford. They had a

(05:42):
heck of a rivalry. And thencoach Harball was at San Francisco when they
were really good and Pete was hereand they had a big time rivalry.
I don't know if you've talked tocoach Harball. It's crazy because it's as
intense as the rivalry was between theirteams and those two coaches. I really
think that that Pete Carroll loves draftedguys from Michigan and they were coached like
coach Harball. Why do you thinkthat is because some dogs? Um?

(06:03):
You know he's in the high stateguy, so um. I guess he
just has to know that Michigan isjust that good. Oh, trust me,
I grew with them a little bitin our meeting because he said,
like, you know where I coachedthat, And I was like, I
hope not down south. But ifyou did, you know what's up?
So what's coach Harball like to playfor? Mike Man? Coach Harball is

(06:29):
a very very loving but loving ina very tough loving way, Like you're
not gonna really understand it as afreshman of why he's so hard on you
and why he just holds you tothe higher standard, or why we do
extra conditioning when we already did conditioning. Why do we over time just to
make us the bestketball players who canbeat but also the best men we can
be. I feel like once youget out of that program and into the

(06:49):
real world or into NFL, orinto whatever you're gonna do, there's nothing
that can really stop you because thehardest thing you ever faced was the stuff
you did each and every day.And he if there was an adversity,
he created it. Like when hewould think that we were getting too soft,
he would throwing an extra tackling period, throwing an extra conditioning period to

(07:10):
make sure we're mentally tough. Andthat just leads into the real world when
your backs against the wall and youhave to make tough decisions or you have
to come back um adversity, Um, you just rise to the occasion.
So man, I love coachar Ball. We had um he texted me yesterday
or I think the day before yesterdayor yesterday. We had a good talk.
And I just feel like the Universityof Michigan isn't great hands because of

(07:31):
that man right there. What didJim Marbot say about Pete Carroll? Um,
I don't think he said a lot, but he said he was.
He said, I'm in a greatorganization, and um, I feel that,
and I'm just looking forward to beinga Sea Hawk. So back to
back picks from Michigan. They pickedthe defensive linemen and then they pick Ola

(07:54):
Timmy. Did I get that right? Yes, sir, yes, sir?
All right, tell us about thecenter the Seahawks guy. I'm sure
you saw him practice. I'm sureone on one drills, all that fun
stuff. What did Seattle get intheir new center? Honestly, I think
oldis probably be dest player I've evergone against the college football of them in
terms of just um just being afootball and being smart like just point in

(08:18):
resplective. This guy was voted likean alternate captain like a couple of months
being in the program. So thatjust tells you what kind of kind of
what kind of guy he is characterwised and just then talk a lot and
just wanted to earn our respect insteadof just like him coming in one the
remanton one, the outlet already likehe's already the best ale in the country,

(08:41):
but he still wanted to earn ourrespect and that just spoke volumes to
us and everything that he was tryingto do, and he just made everyone
so much better. And I feellike he made Monzi so much better as
well, because him and Mozzi weretight up the hit making sure that they
were just bouncing ideas off to eachother what they can both work on.
And also when I went against himwhen I was inside, like I would
ask him some stuff as well.Now I'm definitely gonna be on his on

(09:03):
his head with this new position thatI'm playing, not really a new position,
but something that I need to getcomfortable with. So I'm gonna be
at his hip and in his ear, making sure that I'm on my p's
and q's. What do you knowabout Seattle? What have you heard about
Seattle? What do you know aboutSeattle? I heard his rainy sunny today,
but hey, I just heard hisrainy but hey, man, I

(09:24):
was in Michigan where it was dark, darkness, snows. So sure,
I'm sure I'll be fine. Yeah, they got an indoor facility here for
it rains. Just you'll be fine. Uh. And it's yeah, it
gets a little. It's a littlesketchy, little wet maybe in the wintertime,
but the summers. I'll tell youyou won't be talking about rain when
you get the training camp, myfriend in late July, it'll be gorgeous.
It'll beautiful. You love that.What do you do? What?

(09:45):
What? What? The side's goingto McDonald's. That's gonna change soon enough
once you get tet paid? WhatWhat do you like to do? What
do you like to eat? Whatdoes what does Mike Morris do? Like
on the off tape, I amI am a big seafood guy. I
heard the seafood is immaculate. Sothat's the number one thing I have to
go do. I have to Ihave to try to see food. All
right. I'm gonna give a shoutout to our guy John Howie. He's

(10:07):
one of the best best chefs inSeattle, and he owns a place called
Sea Star in Bellevue. It's probablyabout fifty about fifteen minutes from the Seahawk
practice facility. He's a huge he'sa huge seahawk fan. John. How
are you listening, Debbie? Howare you listening? Right now? Mike
Morris needs some seafood out there,so we'll get you up to We'll get
you to Sea Star. All right, we'll get you up there. Huh,

(10:28):
what do you What kind of seafoodare we going for? What's what's
your what's your preference? It don'tmatter any and all things nice. You
gotta try the king krab legs outhere. Yeah, you gotta do that.
You got salmon. I'll tell what, John Howie makes the best salmon
you'll ever taste. I'll make amean salmon. Are you a cook?
Are you? Oh? Well,he'd probably welcome that. I'll tell you

(10:52):
that right now. I know I'veknown him for a long time. He's
like, yeah, come on back, let's do it. Let's do it
now. If you want to.If I want to actually want to learn
how to I know how to cook, but I need to expand my cooking
talent and learn learn more. Butum yeah, a little bit, a
little bit, I'm gonna I'm gonnamake that happen. I'm gonna I'm gonna

(11:13):
tell you right now. Well,first of all, the chefs at the
Seahawks we had salmon on Friday Thursday, Friday Friday salmon during the draft.
Yeah, it was is incredible,so you'll like it. I'm gonna get
a hold of John. I'm gonna, we're gonna we gotta find a way
to hook you up and get youin the back of the house and back
of the kitchen there at Sea Starright. Yes there. Hey, hey,
Mike, it was great talking toyou. Can't wait to meet you
in person. Seahawk fans, Ithink are gonna just fall in love with

(11:37):
your personality. And it sounds likethe personality matches the effort on the field.
I get the feeling here. Now. Sometimes this is a this is
a negative you hear this kind ofsometimes, But I think this is you
sound like a try hard guy.Are you a try hard guy? Um?
Um, you don't have to trywhen you're doing it. So I'm
gonna do. I'm gonna do typeof guy. I'm not anna try hard
guy. I make things happen.That that is. That is a great

(12:00):
way to end this interview, myfriend. Hey, congratulations, welcome to
Seattle. Can't wait to see youout here. I think you're back out
here in a week and a half, so hopefully we'll see you out there
at the Seahawks. All right,thank you all,