Morris was born in Brownwood, Texas, but spent most of his childhood moving to different cities, as his father was in the United States Navy.

In his second and final year on the team, the 28-year-old left-footer (who was listed as a sophomore) led all of NCAA Division II with an average of 44.5 yards per punt.

He was selected out of Ranger College fourth overall in the 1983 amateur draft (January Secondary) by the Milwaukee Brewers and signed with the organization.

Arm injuries and ineffectiveness limited him to pitching in just two games and he was again unable to rise past the single-A leagues before being released.

Unable to make anything of his career, Morris retired and moved to Big Lake, Texas with his wife Lorri, his 9-year-old son, and his five- and one-year-old daughters, where he became a physical science teacher and baseball coach at Reagan County High School.

At this point, Morris had retired with a minor league record of 17 wins, 22 losses, and a 5.13 earned run average (ERA) in 270 innings pitched.

His team won the title and Morris kept his end of the bargain by attending a Tampa Bay Devil Rays tryout.

He entered a tie game in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded, and issued a game-ending RBI walk to his first batter, Paul O'Neill, after which the Rays shut him down for the season (the club ultimately released Morris in November).

Morris was signed in December 2000 to a minor-league contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but was released during spring training.

[8] A feature film made by Disney called The Rookie was released in 2002 about Morris's climb to playing in MLB.