Jamie Morris James Walter " Jamie " Morris ( born June 6 , 1965 ) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League ( NFL ) for the Washington Redskins and a record - setting running back in college for the University of Michigan Wolverines . While attending the Michigan , he broke the school ' s all - time records for rushing yards in a season and in a career and for all - purpose yards in a career . His career rushing total was once third in Big Ten Conference history . He continues to hold the career receptions record for Michigan running backs . He also still holds the all - time NFL record for most rushing attempts in a game with 45 . Early life . Morris is from Ayer , Massachusetts where he excelled in track and field in high school , winning the Massachusetts state title in the 200m as a sophomore . Morris is the younger brother of Joe Morris who set the all - time rushing record at Syracuse University and went on to play for the New York Giants . Jamie and Joe and two brothers and two sisters grew up in Ayer . Their father , Earl Morris , a former Green Beret master sergeant in Vietnam , was a postmaster in Groton , Massachusetts . College football at Michigan . Michigan ' s all - time leader in all - purpose yards . Morris played college football at the University of Michigan from 1984 to 1987 and broke the school ' s all - time rushing records in yards gained in a season ( 1 , 703 yards ) and a career ( 4 , 392 yards ) . Though those records were broken 13 years later by Anthony Thomas , Morris still holds the U - M school record for all - purpose yards with 6 , 201 . Morris was also the only player in Michigan history to lead the Wolverines in rushing for four years until Mike Hart did so from 2004 – 2007 . In addition to his rushing yards , he had 99 receptions for 756 yards and 51 kickoff returns for 1 , 027 yards . He ranks fourth in U - M history in kickoff return yards . He also still ranks third in U - M history in rushing yards in a season and career . Morris was setting Michigan records during the same years Lorenzo White , the Big Ten ' s first 2000 - yard rusher , was totaling 4 , 887 yards for the Michigan State Spartans . Neither reached Archie Griffin ' s 5 , 589 yard total . Morris was a very versatile running back who was the first Michigan back to total over 30 receptions in a season and remains the only back to have done so twice . He continues to hold the career receptions record for running backs with 99 . In 1986 , Morris suffered a knee injury in a game against Florida State . He sat out a game and then came back to play against Ohio State . While he recuperated Thomas Wilcher rushed for 74 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin . When Morris returned , he had the best game of his college career against the Buckeyes , gaining 210 yards rushing ( 302 all - purpose yards ) to help the Wolverines win the game and advance to the Rose Bowl . The Wolverines lost the 1987 Rose Bowl to Arizona State 22 - 15 . Morris also holds the record for the longest run in Outback Bowl history — a 77 - yard touchdown run on January 2 , 1988 in a 28 - 24 victory over Alabama . Morris was named MVP of the game , then known as the Hall of Fame Bowl . Morris ' Top 10 game performances at Michigan . Morris ' Top 10 game performances for the Wolverines are as follows : Relationship with Coach Schembechler . Morris played at Michigan under Coach Bo Schembechler . When Morris first arrived at Michigan , Coach Schembechler told Morris ( who stood five feet , seven inches ) he was too short to play at running back . Schembechler recalled : " I told Jamie when we recruited him he was too small to be a running back and we wanted him for running back kicks . I did , however , promise him the chance to try to be a running back for us . Good thing I did , isn ' t it ? " In his third game as a freshman , Schembechler put him in as the starting tailback , and he remained Michigan ' s starter at the position for four years . When asked years later about Morris ' career at Michigan , Schembechler said : " Here ' s a kid who I thought would be a very fine kick - return specialist , and he ended up becoming the all - time leading ground - gainer in Michigan history . What do you know about that ? " In a November 2007 interview with " The Ann Arbor News " , Morris recalled : " Once Coach Bo was chastising me , and ( assistant coach Lloyd Carr ) pointed out , ' Look at those younger players over there . He ' s not yelling at them , so he must think something about you . ' And that held with me for a long time . " Morris also spoke at the memorial service held at Michigan Stadium after Schembechler ' s death in November 2006 . While the majority of the speeches focused on how Schembechler will be remembered , Morris spoke about the things he will miss in his coach ' s absence . " I will miss having the conversations with him about the good old days , " he said . " Most importantly , I will miss hearing how much love and pride he had for Michigan - the school , the players and the fans . " U - M ' s career rushing record . Michigan career rushing yards leaders : U - M ' s single - season rushing record . Michigan single - season rushing leaders : U - M ' s career kickoff return yards record . Michigan career kickoff return yardage leaders : NFL career . Morris set Michigan ' s all - time rushing records , yet his smaller stature ( 5 feet , 7 inches ) led to a fourth round draft pick during the 1988 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins . He played three seasons from 1988 - 1990 . His best year was 1988 when he played in all 16 games for the Redskins , and rushed for 437 yards in 126 attempts . During his career , Morris twice rushed for at least 100 yards in a game . Morris also set the NFL record for the most rushing attempts in a game with 45 , in a December 17 , 1988 game against the Cincinnati Bengals . The Redskins ' web site describes Morris ' record - setting performance as follows : " On the morning of Dec . 17 , the Redskins had a 7 - 8 record coming into the season finale at Cincinnati . . . . With no hope of returning to the playoffs , the Redskins gave Morris what amounted to an audition for the starting job in 1989 . With only 81 carries and 285 yards for the season , the 5 - 7 , 195 - pound running back was ready for the challenge . Not only did he carry the ball a record number of times , he gained 152 yards , didn ' t fumble , and had the Redskins on the brink of victory in a game in which not many experts gave them a chance . " Despite the good showing , Morris did not win a starting job in 1989 , gaining 336 yards in 124 carries for a 2 . 7 yard average . Morris ' NFL career came to an end in 1990 , when he gained only four yards in two carries for the Redskins . During Morris ' NFL career , none of his teams made the playoffs , but the 1989 Redskins under Joe Gibbs were 10 - 6 . In 1988 , Gibbs used a triumvirate of running backs with Kelvin Bryant gaining 498 yards , Timmy Smith gaining 470 yards and Morris gaining 437 yards . That season Morris was the leading Redskin kickoff returner with 21 returns for 413 yards . With the New England Patriots in 1990 Morris was one of five return men ( Sammy Martin , Marvin Allen , Junior Robinson , and Don Overton ) with at least 10 returns for the team . Life after football . Morris worked for the University of Michigan Athletic Department as a Development Manager from 1998 - 2010 . He was responsible for donor relations and facilitating the campaign to raise $ 100 million by 2008 . In 2005 , Morris hosted the U - M Football Bust put on by the U - M Club of Greater Detroit . Currently , Morris is the Relationship Manager at Telemus Capital Partners . He also co - hosts a popular Sunday morning sports talk show , with John U Bacon , on WTKA in Ann Arbor . Morris is a true ' Michigan Man ' who always supports his fellow Wolverines . To this day , Jamie Morris bleeds Maize ' n Blue .