Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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WHERE HAVE YOU GONE? age that stood as an NCAA record for 35 years among players with at least five catches in a game. During Morse's career from 1954-56, there was no "slot" position per se, but he had that type of role as a T-formation back who would flank out wide on oc- casion. He rushed for 893 yards during his career and joined 1951-54 standout Joe Heap as the only two Notre Dame running backs to this day who caught more than 1,000 yards worth of passes (1,137 for Heap and 1,102 for Morse). His average of 21.2 yards per catch on 52 career receptions ranks third on the all-time Notre Dame chart among players with at least 35 grabs. Raghib "Rocket" Ismail (1988-90) is No. 1 at 22.0, while Kris Haines (1975-78) is next at 21.5. This Aug. 15, the Muskegon, Mich., native Morse stepped on the FieldTurf in Notre Dame Stadium for the first time, and a football was brought along for the occasion so he could be one of the first to catch a pass on it. TURF WARS Synthetic surfaces didn't enter foot- ball until the late 1960s, so Morse, who was drafted by the Green Bay Packers and played two years in the Canadian Football League, never played on any- thing but grass. "There was no other option at that point so you didn't even think about it," Morse said. As technology evolved and Field- Turf's popularity grew, Morse began conversing with his alma mater about five years ago about the possibility of bringing it to Notre Dame Stadium. He made an offer to finance the new turf in 2012. "At that time almost everybody was in favor of it," he said. "The coaches certainly were, and the players were in favor of it. We went through a process where the whole thing got approved. We were going to do it a couple of years ago, but for whatever reason at the last minute somebody voted it down. "It was delayed for a couple of years and then it came up again after the last football season." Morse is okay with the move away from natural grass. "You've got to move along and get into the 21st century," Morse said. "At the Michigan State game [last year] you actually had players going out on the field between plays and stomping the field down so they could play on it." The cost of installation purportedly Two Shades Of Green Notre Dame 1956 team captain Jim Morse said his life has been colored by two shades of green. Notre Dame's Kelly green and Michigan State's Spartan green. The Muskegon, Mich., resident chose the Irish over Michigan State, where his close high school friend, teammate and future star NFL quarter‑ back Earl Morrall enrolled. One of Morse's sons, Bobby, was a Michigan State running back from 1983‑86 before playing five years in the NFL. Among his 24 grandchildren are 2013‑14 All‑ Big Ten linebacker Max Bullough (now with the NFL's Houston Texans), and current Spartan line‑ backers Riley Bullough (a sophomore) and Byron Bullough (a freshman). — Lou Somogyi