‘He’s been a fighter since day one’: Toughness, selflessness of Sean Morris leads Crusaders

Growing up as the youngest of three brothers, Sean Morris’ earliest experiences playing football came in the simplest form: In the front yard of their New Jersey home, playing pickup games with his brothers and neighbors. Sean’s oldest brother, Ryan, is seven years older, and middle brother Kyle is five years older — and Sean, despite the age gap, would always tag along and be included in the festivities with the older kids. 

“And he actually,” Ryan said, “was better than some of my friends were, even at that young of an age.”

In fact, according to Ryan, a young Sean was the guy that everyone wanted on their team. He was quick, nimble, and tough to bring down. And Sean wasn’t fazed one bit by being the smallest one there. 

“That toughened him up at a young age — because he was three or four years old, hanging out with older kids,” Kyle said. “That was probably where he got his attitude, his work ethic and his toughness.”

Eventually, that enthusiasm and energy moved into organized sports. Their parents both played sports at Moravian College — their father, John, was a basketball player, and their mother, Valerie, played volleyball. 

“There was always chaos,” Valerie said. “That kind of was just the norm — there was always someone who was punching, kicking, fighting, falling down, slamming the door. There was always a lot of action, a lot of activity — and we tried to channel them into sports, just to keep the peace.” 

Of the three Morris brothers, Sean is the third to play college football. Ryan, a tight end, began his career at Purdue before transferring to Villanova, and Kyle, who played receiver, played at Johns Hopkins. 

Sean’s had a steady example throughout his whole life of what it means to succeed at football, from playing in the front yard to sitting in the stands at his brothers’ high school and college games. He’s drawn from his older brothers’ experiences, and gathered their wisdom —  one day, Valerie came home and saw that Ryan was teaching Sean tight end routes in the front yard — but at the same time, Sean has also created his own story. 

“Even when I was in elementary school, I got to see them playing high school football,” Sean said. “And that motivated me to be a football player myself — just seeing their success on the field, and wanting to do that, too.”  

Now a fifth-year tight end for the Holy Cross football team, Sean Morris isn’t one whose name you’ll hear called over the loudspeaker all too often. As a blocking tight end, Sean is the glue for a star-studded Crusader offense — which currently ranks third nationally in scoring (40.6 points per game) and total yards (483.4 per game). He takes on a physical workload to clear the way for his teammates. And while it may not be the most glamorous job, Sean is more than proud of his role.

“My role has evolved into doing whatever's best for the team, so that those guys can shine,” Sean said. “And whenever I'm needed to step up and make a play, I can do that as well. I've taken pride in the fact that if I need to block for a second longer for [receiver] Jalen Coker to get the ball, that's something that I'm willing and proud to do. And if that means that I need to block harder for [running back] Jordan Fuller to run for 180 yards in a game, I take pride in that as well.”

“He doesn't care how many catches he has, he doesn't care how many snaps it is, it's all about what's best for the team,” said Holy Cross tight ends coach Drew Canan. “And if that's him going out there and running power for 25 plays, he's going to do it. If that's him pass-blocking for 30 plays, he's going to do it. Whatever is best for the team.

“He's a tough, resilient, blue-collar, lunchpail type of kid, and you can win a lot of games with those. And he's helped us win a lot of games through the years. It might not always show up in the stats, but it's all those little things.”

Of course, that’s not to say Sean hasn’t earned attention for his success — in each of the past two seasons, he’s received All-Patriot League honors twice. And he’s evolved into a crucial leader for the Crusaders. 

“I'm not the most vocal guy out there on the field,” Sean said, “but I try to be a guy that others can rely on to do their job, every play. Building the trust out there is essential. I think that my role has evolved into being a more trustworthy player, and somebody that the coaches and other players can rely on to go out there and execute their assignment.”

“Both of us are similar in the sense that we're nose-to-the-grindstone type players,” Ryan said. “There's no complaints, no questions asked, you're just going to go out there and do your job, whatever that may be, and just go and do it to the best of your ability. Sean has fit in his role at Holy Cross well, not needing to necessarily be the focal point guy, but someone that understands his strengths on the team.” 

When Sean was three-and-a-half years old, he fell ill — so sick that Valerie took him to the doctor four times in one week. He kept coughing, and despite the doctor’s assurances that he only needed cough syrup, he wasn’t getting better. Finally, when John came home from work one day, Valerie tearfully insisted that something was truly wrong — and that Sean needed to go to the hospital. 

John took Sean to the emergency room while Valerie stayed home with the older sons. At the emergency room, their suspicions that something was deeply wrong were confirmed: He needed to be airlifted to the trauma unit at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia. 

The hospital couldn’t get a helicopter in time, so they sped behind the ambulance to Children’s Hospital — where Sean was admitted with double pneumonia, a collapsed lung and pleurisy. 

“They told us,” Valerie said, “that if we had not gotten there within those six to eight hours, that Sean would have died.” 

Sean spent almost two weeks in the pediatric ICU, spent time on a ventilator, and had video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery to remove the fluid in his chest — before he was able to go home on Christmas Eve. 

“Sean fought back, and he survived,” Valerie said. “He's been a fighter since day one.”

Sean’s playing career at Holy Cross hasn’t come without adversity. After a high school and collegiate career that had been free from major injury, during a playoff game in 2021 at Villanova, he went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. On a trick play, Fuller had thrown a third-quarter touchdown pass to Sean, for the first touchdown reception of his career. During the ensuing celebration, however, Sean broke the fifth metatarsal in his foot.

Despite the touchdown being the first of his collegiate career, it’s certainly not a moment that he reflects particularly fondly upon.

“Yeah…” he said, trailing off. “Definitely a great touchdown…but not the highlight of my career.”

Beyond the frustration of getting pulled from an intense playoff game, the recovery from the Jones fracture proved to be a tricky one to navigate. Even heading into the offseason and despite missing spring ball, so many of the fundamentals of what the position requires proved to be difficult — planting that part of the foot, pushing off, cutting and route-running.  

Into the following fall, the pain still lingered, depending on how he moved exactly, but he was able to stick it out, playing in all 13 contests in 2022. Since then, he’s battled through shoulder and ankle injuries, and put up with countless bumps, bruises, aches and pains. 

But he doesn’t get caught up or complain about it — when it comes to talking about his health, there’s almost a nonchalance about it. 

“All of that comes with the nature of the sport and the position,” he said.

And Sean’s resilience has been an inspiration for everyone around him. 

“The biggest thing that has really inspired me from Sean is how much he’s persevered through — just how much he is just willing to sacrifice for the team,” Kyle said. “He really is a warrior. He just goes out there bandaged up, wrapped up — and he just battles, no matter what.”

“He's as tough a player as I've ever coached,” Canan said. “He's been through a lot, but no matter what he’s feeling, there he is, on Saturday, out on the field.” 

When Sean’s name does show up in the Crusaders’ scoring summary, it’s come in big moments: In Holy Cross’ 2022 NCAA quarterfinal game against South Dakota State, Sean got to recreate his playoff touchdown from the year prior — on another trick play, this time with running back Tyler Purdy passing to the tight end for a 27-yard reception. 

In many ways, he’s been able to take from his brothers’ success and refine his skillset. He’s learned his block-first mentality from Ryan, while also picking up a few tips from Kyle’s success as a receiver. 

“He saw what was positive for them, and saw what was negative for them,” John said. “And that benefited him in the long run.” 

That’s led to a multi-time All-Conference career by the youngest brother. 

“Sean is far and away the best football player of the three of us, in my opinion,” Kyle said. “He learned a little bit from each of us, and really mastered his craft.”

More than anything, football has led to great opportunities — and great lessons — for the Morris family. 

“We're firm believers that sports build character and teach life lessons,” John said. “You don't always win in life, but when you can learn from it —  there is nothing negative that's going to happen from being involved in sports.”

The three sons’ football careers have reflected all of the values that the Morris parents have instilled: being honest, trustworthy, compassionate, team-oriented, and dedicated to academics. Valerie spent years as a French teacher at Ryan, Kyle and Sean’s high school, and both she and John emphasized the importance of prioritizing school, and the value it would provide in the long run. 

Football has been a vessel for success for Sean off the field: Thanks to the Crusaders’ alumni network and 90-Wide mentorship program, Sean already has a job lined up at Ernst & Young upon the completion of his accounting degree. 

It’ll be quite the change of pace for the close-knit Morris family — who has always made sure they’re on hand for every single game possible. They’ll all be in attendance, per usual, at this Saturday’s Patriot League battle against Fordham. 

“Since our guys got involved, we've been all in at every level that they've participated in,” John said. “It’s really been a big part of our August through December every year for the last 15 years.”

“Every now and then, I say to John,” Valerie said, “What are we going to do next year?”

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