PA Season Ticket Holder
05-05-2003, 02:09 PM
May 1, 2003) -- When most people look back at Washington's offseason moves, the first name to come to mind will likely be wide receiver Laveranues Coles , who was acquired from the Jets for the Redskins' first-round pick in this year's NFL draft.
However, the Redskins agreed to the same kind of transaction when they landed running back Chad Morton from the Jets. In fact, they almost lost Morton back to the Jets if not for a ruling from an arbitrator.
Regardless, Morton is one of the newest Redskins. While his offseason rolls along, he took some time out to talk about the move from the Big Apple to the nation's capital, his next career, and how he dominated Ricky Williams ... in baseball.
Where are you right now?
Morton: I'm in Virginia, but I spent most of my offseason in Torrance, Calif., a little bit south of Los Angeles.
From your point of view, go through the whole process of becoming a Redskin.
Morton: (laughs) Let's see ... In the beginning, the Jets made an offer (that I) didn't take right away. The Redskins called a few days later, said they were interested, would work their numbers and see if they could sign me. They finally came up with a deal, and it was a great offer. They didn't think the Jets would match, but the Jets matched it. I was kind of disappointed -- I loved my teammates, but my running back coach in college, Hugh Jackson, is the offensive coordinator on the Redskins, and he had told me about how they're going to get me up there and I'd play running back and do kick and punt returns. Career-wise, it was a much better move for me because I wasn't doing much in New York.
The Jets sent over the contract to my agent, Leigh Steinberg, and he called me and said, 'You know what? They messed up on the contract, and we can go to arbitration and try to get it overruled.' The only problem was that there was only a 10 to 20 percent chance of this happening. The decision was mine, and I chose to do it.
So I'm waiting and talking to both teams and it comes down to the day of the ruling. My phone was turned off because I changed my number, so I didn't have a way of anyone calling me to tell me the result. Once my phone was turned on, I had a bunch of messages and the first one was from Leigh and he said, 'Guess what? You're a Redskin!' I went nuts -- I was jumping up and down and cheering. I then talked to coach Jackson and he told me to come out the next day. I've been excited ever since
http://nfl.com/news/story/6347436
However, the Redskins agreed to the same kind of transaction when they landed running back Chad Morton from the Jets. In fact, they almost lost Morton back to the Jets if not for a ruling from an arbitrator.
Regardless, Morton is one of the newest Redskins. While his offseason rolls along, he took some time out to talk about the move from the Big Apple to the nation's capital, his next career, and how he dominated Ricky Williams ... in baseball.
Where are you right now?
Morton: I'm in Virginia, but I spent most of my offseason in Torrance, Calif., a little bit south of Los Angeles.
From your point of view, go through the whole process of becoming a Redskin.
Morton: (laughs) Let's see ... In the beginning, the Jets made an offer (that I) didn't take right away. The Redskins called a few days later, said they were interested, would work their numbers and see if they could sign me. They finally came up with a deal, and it was a great offer. They didn't think the Jets would match, but the Jets matched it. I was kind of disappointed -- I loved my teammates, but my running back coach in college, Hugh Jackson, is the offensive coordinator on the Redskins, and he had told me about how they're going to get me up there and I'd play running back and do kick and punt returns. Career-wise, it was a much better move for me because I wasn't doing much in New York.
The Jets sent over the contract to my agent, Leigh Steinberg, and he called me and said, 'You know what? They messed up on the contract, and we can go to arbitration and try to get it overruled.' The only problem was that there was only a 10 to 20 percent chance of this happening. The decision was mine, and I chose to do it.
So I'm waiting and talking to both teams and it comes down to the day of the ruling. My phone was turned off because I changed my number, so I didn't have a way of anyone calling me to tell me the result. Once my phone was turned on, I had a bunch of messages and the first one was from Leigh and he said, 'Guess what? You're a Redskin!' I went nuts -- I was jumping up and down and cheering. I then talked to coach Jackson and he told me to come out the next day. I've been excited ever since
http://nfl.com/news/story/6347436