By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
KANNAPOLIS ó Retirement from football can leave a void in the life of a former athlete, but that’s a cavity Mike Morton has filled gracefully.
The former UNC and NFL linebacker is now Dr. Morton. Since June 4, 2007, he’s practiced dentistry in the old Security Bank building in Kannapolis.
A few yards south of Morton’s office is the bridge dividing Rowan County from Cabarrus. A few blocks away is the house where he grew up as the son of a Highway Patrolman. On the other side of Ridge Avenue sprawls the North Carolina Research Campus that’s changed the town’s texture from textiles to high-tech.
Morton, who turned 37 Saturday, is old enough to be part of Kannapolis’ history, yet young enough to be a vital force in its future.
“There are pros and cons to coming back home but lots more pros,” Morton said. “So many people have told me, ‘Hey, Mike, we’re really glad you came back.’ I have a chance to make a positive impact here. I’m thankful for that.”
Morton says he’s thankful every 10 minutes, but he’s sincere. Spiritual and faith-driven he isn’t pushy with his beliefs, but he can be an inspiring public speaker when called upon, and he’s called upon pretty often by schools and churches.
He’s clean-cut and God-fearing to a fault, but before you classify Morton as a square, think twice. Not many guys own a Super Bowl ring (size 141/2) or have a billion trophies in their storage closet.
Morton’s life has been a superhero novel. Baseball and football star at A.L. Brown. State champion in football in 1989, his senior year. No. 1 in his class. Morehead Scholar. Four-year letterman at Carolina. All-ACC Academic honors.
Fourth-round NFL draft pick. Married high-school sweetheart. Mentally tough enough to last seven years at the highest level of football After retiring, returned to UNC to enter dental school.
And then there are the quadruplets that arrived Jan. 19, 2007. Morton and wife Alana already had a son (Trey), but their family suddenly swelled to a seven-person huddle. Sounds like a one-in-a-million fairy tale, but quads actually come along once every 730,000 visits from the stork.
Jesse, Katie, Laney and Molly (one boy, three girls) entered the world healthy, hungry and hollering after a 28-week pregnancy.
“It’s challenging, but we’ve been fortunate to have a big support network of family that helps us out with the kids,” Morton said.
In the best tradition of Hollywood, the quads appeared the day before Morton was scheduled to take his final boards for dental school. With zero sleep but major motivation, he passed with flying colors and became Dr. Morton.
That was sort of the plan all along, although Morton’s original blueprint was football followed by medical school. He detoured to the dental dream because the road was half as long.
“I’ve got buddies still playing in the NFL as long snappers,” Morton said. “Wish I’d been smart enough to be a long snapper.”
He doesn’t miss the dollars. Dentistry pays well.
He does miss the energy and camaraderie of locker rooms. He also misses priceless moments such as looking up his rookie year in the NFL and seeing Lance Smith, an A.L. Brown Wonder he’d grown up idolizing, glaring at him across the line of scrimmage.
Morton started for the Oakland Raiders in 1995 and 1996. After that a back injury made him a backup. Still, he was the ideal backup because he was smart enough to know the assignments for all three linebacker positions.
After four years with the Raiders, he found employment with the St. Louis Rams, captained the special teams units and earned a Super Bowl ring when the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans 23-16 on Jan. 31, 2000.
“Winning a Super Bowl was super-thrilling,” Morton said. “But it didn’t mean as much as winning the state championship at Brown because I contributed more in high school.”
Morton wound down his career with a season with the Green Bay Packers and spent 2001 with the Indianapolis Colts. He had his moments and owns a gameball from a Rams’ playoff victory over Minnesota on the road to the Super Bowl.
Of course, there are always moments that keep a person humble. Morton got blindsided on a kickoff against Miami on national TV and provided teammates with chuckles for a month.
“I was sort of a dominant special teams player and making plays so Miami put in a wrinkle just for me,” Morton said. “I never saw the guy until he hit me. I still ran him over, but it knocked me out and split my chin wide open. “When we were watching film, they ran that play over and over and over. It was like, ‘Hey, Morton, wanna see it again.’ ”
Occasionally, patients bring in footballs to be autographed, but Morton estimates half his patients are unaware of his background. Joy Rivenbark, who handles the dental office, agrees.
“A lot of patients have no clue about the football, especially the young kids,” she said. “But then they’ll see all those helmets back there and that can open up a line of questions. Then it’s like, ‘Wow, Dr. Mike, did you really play for A.L. Brown?’ “When Morton isn’t spending time with his wife and 2-year-old quads, he helps coach his 7-year-old’s baseball team. He reads and plays golf and added a satisfying new hobby last falló officiating football games. He worked jayvee contests, mostly in Rowan County.
“My dad had officiated some, and I talked to him about getting involved,” Morton said. ” I enjoyed it tremendously. You have to know the rules, but just knowing rules doesn’t make you a good official any more than knowing Xs and Os makes you a good football coach. You have to run the game and keep it moving.
“A fan singled me out one night, barking at me that I didn’t know what pass interference was. I’ve probably forgotten more about pass interference than he’ll ever know, but I didn’t say anything. Pass interference wasn’t my call. My responsibility was the line. You have to watch your defined area.”
Morton may get an opportunity to officiate varsity games soon. Keep an eye out. He’ll have a thicker neck and better wheels than the average zebra.
Still, dentistry, not football, is his focus. He’s convinced it’s a noble calling.
“I was still thinking about med school when I got an infected wisdom tooth,” Morton said. “I went into a dental office in pain and walked out not hurting. That validated dentistry for me. It has its place.”
Morton is big on preventive maintenance and compares dentistry to servicing cars. Regular checkups keep expensive problems from cropping up down the road.
“You can’t always convince people, but your teeth are meant to be yours as long as you live,” Morton said.
Morton is proud of lots of things. Outside of his family, probably the gameball from the 1989 championship most of all. That signed ball was presented to A.L. Brown principal Byron King after the Wonders beat Burlington Cummings. Following King’s death, his family handed the ball off to Morton. That says a little about how highly people regard the local dentist.
Morton’s first patient after lunch Thursday was a lady who’s seen lots of life. She sunk deep into an operating chair, gazed up at the 6-foot-4 Morton and asked shyly, “Didn’t you play football?”
A small smile peeked through Morton’s goggles.
“Did play a little,” he replied.