Johnnie Morton

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Johnnie Morton

Position(s) Wide Receiver Jersey #(s) 87, 80, 84
Born	October 7, 1971 (1971-10-07) (age 38) Torrance, California
Career information
Year(s)	1994–2005
NFL Draft	1994 / Round: 1 / Pick: 21
College	USC
Professional teams
Detroit Lions (1994-2001) Kansas City Chiefs (2002-2004) San Francisco 49ers (2005)
Career stats
Receptions	624
Receiving Yards	8,719
Touchdowns	43
Stats at NFL.com
Career highlights and awards
No notable achievements

Johnnie James Morton, Jr. (born October 7, 1971) is a former NFL wide receiver. He was released by the San Francisco 49ers after the 2005 season and retired from pro football thereafter. Originally, he was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the 1st round (21st overall) in the 1994 NFL Draft. He played there until 2002, when he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. He played there for three years. He then signed with the 49ers and only played the 2005 NFL season with them.

College career

Morton was born in Torrance, California. He played at the University of Southern California. Morton managed to break USC and Pac-10 records for receptions and yards. Morton is nicknamed "Johnnnie Hero" by USC broadcaster Pete Arbogast, thanks to a game-winning touchdown pass Morton caught and in the 1990 USC-UCLA game - a 23-yard strike from Todd Marinovich with 16 seconds left in the game to give the Trojans a thrilling 45-42 win.

Mixed martial arts career

Morton made his Mixed Martial Arts début on the June 2, 2007, at K-1 Dynamite!! USA. In a pre-fight interview with Sherdog he revealed that he had only a few months of martial arts training in preparation for the fight.^[1] He lost to Bernard Ackah in 38 seconds of the first round via knockout.

After the fight, Morton was suspended indefinitely and denied his purse ($100,000) by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) after refusing to take his post-fight anti-doping test.^[2] It was revealed by the CSAC on June 9, 2007 that Morton tested positive for anabolic steroids. According to CSAC executive officer Armando Garcia, Morton tested positive for a "very elevated TE ratio, which is testosterone. And that is 83.9 -- the normal industry standard for an athlete is 6."^[3] Morton faces a possible revocation of his fighting license and fine.

Personal

• Johnnie's younger brother, Chad Morton, also played at USC.

• The Mortons are of mixed ethnicity, African-American and Japanese.

• Johnnie had a brief cameo appearance in the movie Jerry Maguire.

Miscellaneous

• During the 2001 season, comedian Jay Leno had been poking fun at the Lions' 0-12 record. When the Lions won their first game of the season 27-24 against the Minnesota Vikings, Morton, who knew of Leno's comments, said, "I want Jay Leno to kiss my ass." Morton later appeared on The Tonight Show,^[4] during which Leno proceeded to kiss a donkey.

Mixed martial arts record

Result	Opponent	Method	Event Title	Date	Round	Time
Loss	Bernard Ackah	KO (Punch)	K-1 Dynamite!! USA	6/2/2007	1	0:38

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

• TSN Bio
• Article on K-1 press conference regarding June 2 event.
• Sherdog.com interview with Morton about making his MMA debut.
• Professional MMA record.
• CSAC Indefinitely Suspends Morton.