Posts Tagged ‘Anthony Morelli’

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Morelli Cut by Cardinals

Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008

Saturday was cut-down day in the NFL, and unfortunately, this Turkey must report that fleeting Arizona Cardinal quarterback Anthony Morelli inevitably succumbed to the final roster pare-down to 53 players. The former Penn State bust has probably seen the last of the NFL, but ya nevah know! For those of you who would like to follow Morelli’s descent into obscurity, visit his web site. Sadly, he still lists himself as a Cardinal.

Just in case you want one more taste of what we lost when Morelli graduated, view the pre-season play that might have cemented his ultimate fate in (or out of) the NFL. Here is a video of what might be Morelli’s final overthrown 89-yard pick-six, the Denver Broncos being the beneficiaries. He might have been able to save the TD (and possibly his ass) if he could have managed to tackle the defensive back who intercepted his errant pass, but nooooooooooooooo…

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Battle of the Third-Stringers

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

Morelli alert!

Former PSU quarterback Anthony Morelli is waging the fight of his life for the Arizona Cardinals #3 quarterback position.

Matt Leinart is listed as first on the depth chart, and Kurt Warner is second. Those two might switch places several times during the pre-season and into the regular season. Although they are battling for the starting slot, hey both have guaranteed jobs. Not so #3. That’s where the real battle is.

The two contenders for third-string quarterback are Brian St. Pierre and Penn State’s own Anthony Morelli. St. Pierre, whom you Nittany Lions fans might remember as one of the fine quarterbacks produced by Boston College, has been a career third-stringer in his six year NFL career, mostly with the Steelers, but including a brief stint with the Ravens. He has been played very little, unless you count scout team service. As a Steeler, he played for Ken Whisenhunt, former Steelers offensive coordinator and current Cardinals head coach. The Cardinals signed him to a one-year contract this year. Some would say that this gives him the inside track.

I don’t know about that. After all, St. Pierre can hardly be described as an experienced NFL quarterback, and Whisenhunt did not regard him highly enough to give him any reps in Pittsburgh. Indeed, he was cut twice, and relegated to the scout team on another occasion. To Whisenhunt, Morelli is something new and strange. Very strange.

From the Arizona Republic, August 15:

“That’s been one of our strongest competitions in camp, as far as guys stepping up and getting better,” the coach said. “I can sit up here and say all the time that I think competition makes us a better team, but in that area, I’ve really seen it. I’ve seen dramatic improvement in all of those guys in terms of what we’re trying to get done.”

Morelli stepping up and getting better? What the hell took him so long? I wonder if his dad is telling Whisenhunt how to coach his son. As I saw no quote by Morelli, I’ll assume that Dad is still not allowing him to talk to the media.

Will I ever stop bashing Morelli? Or will Morelli prove that it was not his lack of talent, brains or football acumen, but rather the crappy quarterback coaching at Dear Old State that was to blame for his failure at PSU.

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Austin Scott a Brown; Morelli Meanders

Monday, May 5th, 2008

In a humongous sweep of draft leftovers, the NFL Cleveland Browns signed 23 free agents. Among them was ex-Nittany Lion tailback Austin Scott.

Unfortunately, Austin Scott will be better remembered around Penn State circles for his off-field exploits than for his accomplishments as a running back. However, he never lived up to the promise of his high school career.

Scott’s penchant for dancing around behind the line of scrimmage before moving forward was a great hindrance to his success in the faster moving college game, where opposing linebackers were in the backfield before Scott could get his ass in gear.

It is important to distinguish Scott’s actual performance from his potential, but that is all water under the bridge. He’s the Brownies’ problem now for a year, if he survives all the cruel cuts of the NFL pre-season.

Jamal Lewis is the Browns’ feature back. It is unclear how Scott will fit in to the Browns’ offensive scheme.

A Cleveland Plain-Dealer reader posted the following comment:

I’m excited about Austin Scott. This guy is amazing…if he can stay out of trouble. I never like taking questionable character guys..I leave that to the Bengals…but I’m glad the Browns are taking a flyer on him. Remember, Jam Lewis was in trouble and actually had his career derailed for a time by it…[even] serving time in prison Maybe Lewis can serve as a mentor to Scott. Go Browns!

Scott signed a one-year contract, but it is conditional on his making the team, which is to say that he must be on the final, 53-man roster.

“I’m going to turn it up another couple of notches,” Scott vowed. “I just want to get ready for the preseason minicamps and make an impression to make the final cut, to make it to the season, actually. I want to make sure that they understand they can use me and that I’m a good athlete to have on their team. I want them to know that I can help the Browns. I want to make an impression on special teams.”

Full story at theMorningCall.com.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, at Arizona Cardinal mini-camp, Anthony Morelli continues to struggle with apprehending the playbook, as he vies with Brian St. Pierre for the third-string job behind Matt Leinart and Kurt Warner. Par for the course, eh?

On the other hand, Dan Connor was impressive lining up at middle linebacker with the Carolina Panthers second and third teams. Having scant time to master a complex defensive playbook, Connor was still able to make some decent reads.

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Wonders Never Cease

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Former Nittany Lion quarterback Anthony Morelli signed a free-agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals in the aftermath of the NFL Draft, in which he was not picked by any team.

A glance at this morning’s Arizona Republic fails to find a mention of this momentous signing, as if to wish it away.

Cardinals head coach Ken Whisenhunt, a former Steelers offensive coordinator, has been recognized as an offensive genius. Perhaps he saw something in Morelli that the rest of us did not?

From Scout.com:

Former pro scout Tom Marino, who has 30 plus years in the league, is pretty high on Morelli as a project.

“He has all the tools you look for in a QB; an athletic body, very strong throwing arm and far better movement then I had expected, but is acutely under coached and unprepared for the job of being a professional QB.

Has a violent overhand delivery and when he’s on his game has as much ability as anyone in the draft. Can make all the throws; out, dig, fade and comeback. Going to have to start from square one with this player, but has a big upside. A 6th – 7th round steal.”

He is indeed a project, a reach, a zircon-in-the-rough. However, one meta-fact I can glean from Marino’s comments is that PSU has a reputation for “undercoaching” quarterbacks. The JoeJay approach is a quarterback spoiler. That’s for sure. Whether Morelli would have done better in another system, we’ll never know.

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