Road To Riches: Najee Morrison’s Pursuit for his College Football Dreams & Plans to Exceed Beyond the Field
The world is set up for seemingly endless uncertainties for almost everyone right now. A pandemic has ravaged the globe, causing a multitude of adversities that has made people re-plan the entire course of their lives in the most unexpected way. For Najee Morrison, he’s sticking to his plan to play and excel in college football by any means necessary. Because to him, the journey goes beyond just football.
Morrison, 23, is currently playing corner back for Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska. A school in the Great Plains Athletics Conference.
For him, being in his fifth year of undergrad, he knows his time playing collegiate sports is zoning to its end. On top that, he’s also dealing with the realities that other conferences across the nation are canceling their sports for the fall season.
But the Midland football program and its conference are planning to give it a go with some major tweaks on how the games will unfold with a shortened 8-game regular season stretch.
In such hazy times though, Morrison is able to reflect on his complex path that has led him to where he is today, and how the people that’s surrounded his life so far have been some of the biggest inspirations to become fully immersed in the sport.
At John F. Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, CA, Morrison was a flat out star on the field. His senior year in 2016, the skilled corner racked up the accolades, winning Most Valuable Player, being named CIF All-City, and becoming one of the full fledged leaders of his team.
It wasn’t until his sophomore year though that he fully locked in to take the route he did. Morrison stated, “I got the talent to do something with it, so might as well commit to it and go all in.”
But the real course didn’t start until after his high school campaign.
After graduating, he did not acquire the Division I offers he had hoped for. So, he decided to take the junior college route to continue his pursuit at Los Angeles Valley College, wanting to make himself a JUCO product of players who made it out to college football’s biggest programs in the nation.
The amount of competition that is instilled is tremendous at every level. But college football is where you’ll find some of the most intense and motivated athletes in North American sports, because they are at the beginning of their potential and they will go by any means to reach the type of players they can become.
Luckily for Morrison, he’s been able to grow not only physically, but mentally to be as prepared as possible to hold his own, as he’s been able to acquire guidance from his cousin Winston Rose, newly signed defensive back for the Cincinnati Bengals.
He commented that Rose would always advise him, “You can’t be one foot in and one foot out. You gotta have both feet in and stay really committed to the grind. There’s really no other choice. Not even just in football, [but] anything in life period.”
But aside from pulling motivation from his cousin who’s made it to the NFL, he highlighted that probably his biggest influence that has stopped himself from giving up when the process was at its hardest, is his younger brother Tyree, who’s about to play football himself at Moorpark Community College.
Morrison was sentimental in this aspect, because he knows that if he gives up, his brother might give up too, and he does not want to set the example to fold when hardships accumulate, but rather come out on top for someone that looks at him the same way Morrison looks at his cousin.
At LAVC, he was there for a total of three years, but only played in two of those years, as the recent high school grad redshirted the 2017 season. For him, it was already make it or break it time, but he wanted to play his cards right as he knew he would get more exposure his second year due to the dense amount of players playing at his position his first year.
According to Morrison, once players decide to go JUCO, that’s when they start quitting as well because the level of competition is simply too much for some individuals. He explained the notion that there are big possibilities that players will not get the offers from the schools that they want, and its a hard-hitting reality.
In 2017, he somehow found himself on that verge to quit. Aside from not playing that year, he wasn’t showing up to practice and lacked the discipline urgently needed to exceed in this route. His coach even sent him home one of the days that he did show up to practice and told him not come back until December.
“I was hurt,” he stated. Morrison caught himself in a patch of discouragement at the time because he wasn’t sure if he would live up to the standard of competition within his own team, which evidently sucked out the motivation he had for the game.
In 2018 though, that’s when he finally got his chance to become a part of the rotation. The team came off of a 16–0 season prior, to only winning seven games the following season. Even though this year was a blur to him in many senses, he knew it was a step in the right direction to improve himself heading into his final season at LAVC.
Morrison explained his 2019 season as being hectic, but for better reasons this time around. “That year, it was crazy, it was amazing, it was an experience. You realize how many coaches want you now, you feel me? This is your last year. Now you figure out if you’re gonna get out or not.” It was hectic as well because at the end of the season, he didn’t want to play football anymore.
He didn’t get the Division I offers he wanted, but he did get offers from Division II schools. That was his realization that you may not always get what you desire for, but he wanted to tackle those opportunities with the attitude to make the most of what is given to him. But before he committed to any schools after, he got his first job in two years as a security guard. The first time he found himself finding the time to actually work because the junior college season and offseason was all he actually had time for.
He was honest with himself though. When he was working those 5pm-1am shifts, some realizations came down hard on him. He wasn’t sure if he did want to play football any longer and he wasn’t really sure what other direction he would take. Morrison became emotional talking about this mental low point he encountered because there were so many thoughts dawning on him all at once.
Ultimately though, he decided to keep going, because he had the people he loved and cared for in the back of his mind that he knew he couldn’t let down. Around that same time, is when he decided to commit to Midland University and take his talents to a school that needed his resilience.
But that resilience doesn’t just stem from his will to be an example for his family, as he turned that resilience into a brand that’s propelled him to see life beyond football.
Morrison created Road to Riches, a clothing company that delivers a message to people that wealth is not the only factor to what riches means, but it’s that pursuit of happiness and how one gets there that brings the best riches in life. As his vision has been able to connect with so many people around him, he claims.
“It’s more than being rich, it’s so much more than that. It’s about giving back, being happy, and inspiring. That’s my biggest one right there, it’s just to inspire people…Everybody wants to be successful in life and that’s what I feel what the brand means. Road to Riches speaks for itself pretty much.”
This was a vision he’s had since he’s entered junior college. It came into fruition back in 2017 and has become a lifestyle for Morrison ever since.
The corner back knew he was on to something with the brand from the start with the amount of positive feedback he was able to get from people he didn’t even know he could have such a huge impact on.
He commented on how he came across individuals that really supported his message and admired his mindset whole-heartedly because they were able to resonate so well with it.
Morrison was surprised with the the amount of attention his brand was able to get, as he would get messages asking for his clothes and showing that it was worth more than just selling for money and went beyond just him as well.
He proudly stated, “People from then, until now, they’ve told me ‘hey bro, you motivated me to do more.’ Things like that changed my heart. Like, what? I didn’t even know I could motivate people like that.”
This particular brand has become such a benefactor to Morrison’s character development on and off the field, that he even got it tattooed on his bicep, letting himself know that this is a permanent mindset and not a fluke whatsoever.
This is where, for him, he knows there is so much more to life than just football.
“F*** being rich for real. Just to give back and let everybody know, you on the road to riches right now. I’m on the road to being great on the field, but outside, you just on the road. You’re trying to get to where you’re going in life and you’re gonna get there someday. There’s going to be ups and downs, but you’re going to get there some day.”
To Morrison, getting there as his end goal has multiple paths. After finishing college, he wants to attempt and play in a league like the NFL or the CFL. But if that doesn’t workout, he knows that isn’t the end-all-be-all for him.
He would love to keep focusing on his clothing brand and pursue anything in digital design. Hopefully to take his professional skills and utilize them for companies such as Google where he can keep transforming his knowledge into something of real value for others.
But by getting there, he wants to “put his people up,” and make sure he’s able have that fulfillment of giving back to them while reaching the pinnacle of his success.
At the end of it all, Morrison looks to translate his mantra of Road to Riches on a daily basis. Whether that be hauling himself through the intense competition of college football during these unprecedented times, setting the example he wants to be for his younger brother, or hustling in the pursuit of happiness and success beyond the turf.
It’s a tunnel vision mindset that seems to be leading him towards the right path so far in his 23 years of life, and will only keep guiding him as his future unfolds.
