Nicholas Morrow joins the Raiders knowing that nothing will be handed to him.
Oakland Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie recently signed undrafted free-agent Nicholas Morrow from Division III Greenville College despite making the secondary a point of emphasis during the 2017 NFL draft selecting players such as Gareon Conley, Obi Melifonwu and Shalom Luani, respectively.
The journey from Division III to the NFL for Nicholas Morrow
Originally from Alabama and after barely playing football at Huntsville High, Morrow decided to attend Greenville after no other program gave him the opportunity to play. Moreover and even though he wasn’t convinced at first because the college facilities weren’t up to his standards, his father was able to convince him to study there since having one opportunity to play football was better than having none.
During his time at Greenville, Morrow recorded 151 tackles and 71 assists, which was impressive for a defensive back, (little side note, Greenville’s home of Grammy rock band Jar of Clay) Morrow continued working during his college tenure even earning the UMCA Most Offensive Defensive Player Award.
As pointed out previously, Morrow was recently signed by the Raiders as an undrafted free agent and will be given the opportunity to fight his way up the depth chart. Alas, he has an uphill battle to just make the roster as most positions at the secondary are already set. On the other hand, head coach Jack Del Rio was on the record when he said that competition will be welcomed and if Morrow is able to get the most out of his chance, not only will he join the Raiders on a permanent basis, but he’ll be able to become a key contributor on special teams or the secondary.
Morrow has a long way to go before he makes the team as he’ll have to earn every single snap, make every tackle count, and hopefully he can earn a spot. His professional football career can abruptly end at any moment between now and the start of the regular season but if he does make it, he’ll have developed into a fine player who can be an asset for the Raiders and a reason for the fans to cheer an underdog. He might have low expectations right now but he also wasn’t expect to do anything of significance at Division III Greenville College but that didn’t turn out as expected either.
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