Patriots running back Sammy Morris will host a youth football camp next week that will help kids further their games, and it might even help Morris with his post-NFL career.
Morris said Thursday he has always thought about getting into coaching at the high school or college level — maybe like former Patriots fullback Mosi Tatupu — because he holds such a passion for working with kids.
"I've always had the desire to coach high school and potentially college football," Morris said. "We'll see how that goes. Yeah, definitely, I can see it in some form or fashion. I don’t know if it's as a coach or if it's as a coach or I put on clinics and camps and all that stuff. It's definitely on the radar for my post-career goals."
Morris hosts the camp with former Texas Tech and Washington Redskins linebacker Devin Lemons, who is currently a high school coach in Texas. They held the first leg of the camp last month in Lubbock, Texas, and they host another session July 15-17 at The Army Field in Foxboro, Mass.
Despite growing up in San Antonio, which was in proximity to the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers, Morris said he never had the chance to attend a camp like this, and that drove his decision to host his own — in a pay-it-forward sort of way. He is hoping to get some of his Patriots to attend, including linebackers Jerod Mayo and Tyrone McKenzie.
"We're just really trying to teach them some drills to get quicker and faster, and at the same time, build their mental toughness of working through [it] when you're tired," Morris said. "A lot goes into making you a good football player."
Morris echoed what he said in March — he's got no plans to hang up his pads anytime soon. The 10-year veteran is entering the fourth and final season of his Patriots contract, and he'll continue to take it as it goes. Then, possibly, it's off to coaching.
"As long as they'll still have me," Morris said about how long he'll play in the NFL. "When I first got into the league, I always said if I played 10 years, that would be the best possible scenario. Now that I'm past that, I don’t look at it and say I want to play until I'm in year 13 or whatever. I just think that each year is its own entity. As long as I still feel good, as long as the team will still have me, I'll play as long as I can. I've felt as good going into this upcoming training camp as any other one."
