Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM APRIL 2024 17 is on a different level than that of his own back in the day. "He does some crazy stuff," Darryl said. "I'm always going to teach him the basics and the fundamentals. That type of stuff? I don't have it in my capacity to do it. I don't even have it in my vocabu- lary to say, 'Try it.' "When he does those things, that's when it's like, 'OK, he may be proving me wrong. He might be a little better than what I thought he was.'" That's where hard work and humility pair to bring Benjamin over the top. He learned the importance of the marriage of those two things while shadowing his dad at Washington's training facility as a youngster. Chris Samuels, Ryan Clark, Antonio Pierce. Players who went on to earn Pro Bowl nods and win Super Bowl champi- onships. Pierce acquired both of those accolades. Now he's the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. A football mind through and through. Those are the types of individuals who left positive impacts on Benjamin in some of the most impressionable periods of his life. "Being around those guys really helped grow my game and mature," Benjamin said. He has always known growing up he doesn't have all the answers. The people who made it to the top and perform at the highest level — the players he's been lucky enough to be around his whole life through his father — have way more of them. He's never taken their presence for granted. He revels in it. Cherishes it. Soaks it in. He listens to them — except for maybe if they tell him to catch the ball with two hands. That's a touchy subject. Lately, one of Benjamin's most influ- ential resources has been longtime NFL tight end Zach Ertz. The two connected in Phoenix when Ertz, a three-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champ, be- came a Cardinal after nine seasons in Philadelphia. "He says, 'Be where your feet's at," Benjamin said. "Be where your feet's at. Don't focus on what things you can't control. Control what you can control." THE CHASE Benjamin couldn't control his spot on the depth chart upon immediate arrival at Notre Dame. He was not an early enrollee, unlike several of his peers in the recruiting class of 2022. He showed up in South Bend in June. Most of them got there in January. "He called me and was like, 'Dad, I'm the eighth corner,'" Darryl said. "'I'm the last one in the line.' I said, 'As should be the case.'" Darryl's never been one to sugarcoat anything to his sons. Benjamin's brother, Sammy, played defensive back at Arizona and San Diego State, just like Darryl. Ben and Sammy have gotten unique oppor- tunities to observe some of the game's greats, but when it comes to actually playing football the onus is on them. Just as it was for Darryl, Samuels, Clark, Pierce and Ertz, etc. The list goes on. It's endless. The pros put in the work to reach their heights. Sure, Benjamin was the eighth corner in line at his first fall camp at Notre Dame. Those others probably faced unfavorable depth chart situations at some point in their own upbringings as well. But they worked through them, ascended and peaked at the pinnacle. Benjamin set himself out on the same path as soon as he could. Right after that phone call with his dad. "What tripped me out was he was making mistakes, but he was making the mistakes older guys would make," Dar- ryl said. "I'm like, 'Wait a minute.' Then he started improving upon those mis- takes. For me, it wasn't when he got a starting nod. It was probably a week and a half into camp where I'm like, 'I don't know if he can play at the next level, but I think he can play at this level.' "It was his ability to — at a young age, with his eyes wide open; he didn't even know where the water fountain was, he didn't know when they were blowing the whistle for a break — everything was new, and he was making mistakes, but his mis- takes looked just like the older guys.'" When that's what Darryl saw on film from Benjamin's first fall camp, it was time for him to make a call of his own. That talk was much more optimistic than the one detailing initial roster concerns. "I said, 'I'm going to be honest with you; I think you're going to be OK,'" Darryl recalled. Benjamin played 29 snaps on the road at No. 2 Ohio State mere weeks after tell- ing his dad he was eighth in line. He made his first career start two weeks after that and went on to intercept 6 passes as a true freshman, the most interceptions of any Notre Dame player since Manti Te'o had 7 in 2012. He was tabbed a Freshman All-American by everyone — On3, Col- lege Football News, Pro Football Focus. You name it. They named him. Benjamin has put himself on the fast track to following in the footsteps of his mentors; he's already viewed as a high- level 2025 NFL Draft prospect. He's picked up important tips from them along the way, but it's advice from his own head coach, Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman, that keeps him grounded. "The challenge I have for myself and everybody in this program is chasing being the best version of ourselves," Freeman said. "That's going to make Notre Dame football better. Benjamin Morrison is chasing the best version of Benjamin Morrison. And Marcus Free- man's doing the same thing. "What's the golden standard? It's you getting as close as you can be to being the best version of yourself, which in turn will help us as we try to reach our full potential." He doesn't need to be told twice. "I have this thing called 'the chase,' like chasing something you won't be able to achieve and trying to go for excel- lence," Morrison said. "Like Kobe [Bry- ant] said, 'The chase is something you won't be able to achieve. It's trying to go for excellence knowing you won't get it.' But I'm gonna keep trying to go for that. The chase is the biggest thing for me." That's a perspective his pops would be proud of. The best way for Morrison to keep chasing? Be where his feet's at. ✦ "I have this thing called 'the chase,' like chasing something you won't be able to achieve and trying to go for excellence. Like Kobe [Bryant] said, 'The chase is something you won't be able to achieve. It's trying to go for excellence knowing you won't get it.' But I'm gonna keep trying to go for that. The chase is the biggest thing for me." MORRISON