Morris Claiborne was picked sixth overall in the 2012 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He was considered the top cornerback in the draft and by many to be the top defensive player in the draft. Let’s find out more about him.
1. Morris Claiborne Went to LSU
Before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys, Morris Claiborne had a stellar college career at LSU. He sat on the bench his freshman year but was finally given a chance to shine his sophomore year. And shine he did. However, there were lingering questions about his abilit, because it was believed his success came from playing next to Patrick Peterson. He proved those doubters wrong in his junior year campaign when he by far surpassed his production from the previous year and cemented his place as the top cornerback in the NFL draft.
2. He Won the 2011 Jim Thorpe Award
Every year the Jim Thorpe Award is presented to the top college defensive back in the country. In 2011 it was given to Morris Claiborne for his performance during his junior year. He also earned first-team All-SEC honors and was a unanimous first-team All-American.
3. He Played Quarterback, Wide Receiver, and Defensive Back in High School
So it’s crazy enough to play three positions, but to actually be good at all three is just out of this world. Not to mention, how does someone even play quarterback and wide receiver? Was he just throwing himself the ball out there? In his senior year at Fair Park High in Shreveport, Louisiana, he recorded 2,000 all-purpose yards and 30 touchdowns as a quarterback.
4. Ryan Clark of the Pittsburgh Steelers Wanted Claiborne to be His Teammate
@moclaiborneRT@genevanelson:if you could select any player in the first round to be your teammate, who would it be?#steelers— ryan clark (@RealRClark25) April 25, 2012
Ryan Clark, the Pittsburgh Steelers safety, was asked by a fan on the day of the draft via Twitter if he could have anyone in the first round as a teammate, who would he want? He answered Morris Claiborne as you can see in the above tweet.
5. He Got a 4 on the Wonderlic Test
The Wonderlic Test is an aptitude test given to potential draftees to measure their intelligence. Claiborne scored a 4 out of a possible 50 points. That means he got four questions questions correct out of 50! It’s a wonder he can spoon cereal into his mouth. But he later claimed to have blown off the test after he looked at it and saw it had nothing to do with football.
Indeed, the Wonderlic Test’s ability to actually measure anything that has any correlation to what occurs on the football field has been questioned a lot lately. Most people seem to be of the opinion that it is rather useless except maybe when it comes to quarterbacks and even then, any evidence of its ability to predict success at the NFL level is specious at best.
6. His Favorite Movies are Tropic Thunder and White Chicks
Congratulations, Cowboys fans. This is your new starting cornerback’s favorite movie.
I don’t even know what to say to this one. Maybe he just finds people pretending to be a different race particularly hilarious. I think I know what his favorite SNL sketch is!
Anyway, points for Tropic Thunder (which was written by Justin Theroux), but negative points for White Chicks.
7. He was a Cowboys Fan Growing Up
Even though he is from Shreveport, Louisiana, he grew up in a family filled with Cowboys fans and naturally became a Cowboys fan himself. Now he gets to live out his dream playing for the team he rooted for as a kid.
8. He’s Largely Been Kept Out of Practices Due To Injury Since Being Drafted
Since being drafted, Morris Claiborne hasn’t seen the field too much. Mostly due to injury. He had surgery on his wrist that kept him out of all offseason workouts and then suffered an MCL sprain a week into training camp.
This caused him to be called out by team executive vice president Stephen Jones, who said that Claiborne needed to play through things. It seems weird that they’d question Claiborne’s willingness to play through injury because he played throughout his junior year at LSU with an injury. Claiborne has since responded that he understands where Jones is coming from and agrees with him.
9. His Nickname is Mo
Really? Mo? That’s some weak sauce dude. Really unimaginative. And we wonder why the art of the nickname is dying. It’s because we settle for simply shortening names like that’s acceptable. Yohan Blake is nicknamed The Beast. Learn from him, America.
10. He has a 2-Year-Old Son
My hart he is all i need!! twitter.com/MoClaiborne/st…
— Morris Claiborne (@MoClaiborne) June 17, 2012
Morris Claiborne is a proud daddy who frequently refers to his son as Lil’ Mo (rolling my eyes here, Morris) and tweets lots of pictures of his spending time with the youngling. He seems like a really good dad. Although, apparently he’s taught him to root for the Miami Heat, which frankly, I just can’t advise.
Related: Kelly Clarkson has just released a new Dallas Cowboys anthem.