FAYETTEVILLE, AR - Fresno State senior nickelback Morice Norris Jr. has been nominated for the Burlsworth Trophy, an award that recognizes the most outstanding football player in America who began his career as a walk-on and has shown outstanding performance on the field.
Norris Jr. is one of 73 nominees from around the FBS, and one of six from the Mountain West.
This season, the Fresno, Calif. native has started in all eight games. He is fourth on the team in tackles with 39. He adds 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions, seven broken up passes and one forced fumble.
Norris Jr. plays a unique role as the Bulldogs' starting nickelback, a hybrid position that not just anybody can play. The position, brought in by defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle and his defensive scheme, was unfamiliar to the program but found Norris Jr. as the perfect fit.
What made him the guy for the job? Easily his determination.
When Norris Jr. arrived to Fresno State, he was put in the DB room and was going to play cornerback under coach J.D. Williams – the reason why Norris Jr. was found and became a Bulldog in the first place.
While at Sanger High School, Norris Jr. was a dual-sport athlete playing some football but putting his interests towards basketball. After graduation, he decided to take the junior college route and play football instead of basketball, or maybe look for the opportunity to play both. He attended Orange Coast College in Southern California. He was eventually offered a preferred walk-on spot with an FBS program, but when he arrived on campus he was told that they would be going in another direction with their roster spot. Norris Jr. was left without an opportunity that he had worked for, putting himself through college playing football, attending school and working multiple jobs to get by.
On a whim, Norris Jr. called Fresno State defensive back coach J.D. Williams looking for a hail mary opportunity and the chance to come back and play at home. Williams told Norris Jr. there was a prospect camp that next day, so he packed up his car and drove 16 hours through the night to make it to Fresno and go straight to the camp. The rest was history.
In only one year of playing Division I football, and redshirting in 2021, in a special position at that, Norris Jr. has made the most of his opportunity, establishing himself as the starter immediately. He played in all 14 games with 12 starts and was fourth on the team in tackles with 57 (36 solo) in his first season of action in 2022. He proved to be an instinctual player and had the second-most tackles for loss (8.0) on a defense that fueled the Bulldogs' nine-game winning streak to end the season. The Sanger High product also finished the season with one sack, one forced fumble, one quarterback hurry and six pass break ups.
Norris Jr. was awarded a scholarship in the Spring of 2022, after his first season on the field as a Bulldog.
The Burlsworth Trophy award ceremony to honor the three finalists and to announce the 2023 winner will be on December 4, at 7:00pm CST at Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas.
For the full list of nominees, visit the Burlsworth Trophy website here.