Football - Colts Re-sign Rob Morris

Indianapolis Colts have re-signed veteran Rob Morris. According to Bill Polian, Colts’ president, retaining Morris was one the top priorities for the team. For the playoffs Morris was moved to the starting lineup and Polian expected Morris to continue starting since he did extremely well in the playoffs in that position.

The terms of the contract have not been disclosed and Ethan Lock, Morris’ agent, could not be reached to give details about the contract.

Morris was the 28th overall pick in the 2000 draft and he was expected to bolster Colts’ defense and be the main anchor. However, his development as a rookie faced obstacles because of a long contract holdout. He also had problems because he tore the quadriceps in his right leg after just seven games.

It took Morris the next four years to consolidate his position in the Colts but he ended up losing his position to Gary Brackett, an undrafted free agent, in 2004. The Colts re-signed Morris long he became a free agent. It was coach Tony Dungy who decided to replace Gilbert Gardner with Morris as a starter and this immediately reflected in the team’s performance. The Colts went from having the league’s worst defense in regular season to one of the best in the playoffs. The fact that Morris can adapt himself to any position, even the one that he has never played before, made him extremely valuable to the Colts.

Morris is 32 years old and during the 2006 regular season, he had 48 tackles and during Colts four victories in the playoffs, he had 21 tackles which include 17 solo tackles. From 2001 to 2003, Morris had more than 100 tackles in each season. He has a total of 531 tackles to his credit.