Morris expects to get see some action in the Centurians offense as well.
“They run a three-four receiver offense, a pretty good rotation, so I should be in the mix quite a bit,” Morris says.
SUPER BOWL SHUFFLE
The NFL Europe is composed of six teams, with each team playing a 10-game schedule starting the weekend of April 3-4. The top two finishers will play in World Bowl XII.
For Soriano, that might be a bit anticlimactic, considering he made it to Super Bowl XXXVIII in his first season in the pros.
“It was totally unexpected coming in, a real awesome experience,” Soriano says. “You grow up watching the Super Bowl but never expect to be part of it. You turn on the news and there’s all these celebrity sightings, celebrities throwing parties, the media. It’s a real circus.
“For me, it’s a humbling experience. There are so many great players who haven’t had a chance to win, let alone play.”
Soriano didn’t get to see any regular game action in New England’s 17-2 season, so this spring’s games will hopefully be a stepping-stone to a pro appearance.
“I just want to get experience and playing time, and hopefully be on the active roster next season,” he says.
Morris is similarly antsy to show what he can do on the field.
“It’s been over a year since I was in a game situation, so it’s good to get out there, get things running full speed again.”
HARVARD MEN
The fallout from the H-Bomb, it seems, has a radius extending beyond the college years. While their Harvard educations are old news—and old jokes—for their NFL teammates and coaches, Morris and Soriano’s new NFL Europe colleagues still have to get over the shock.
“Everyone’s got little jokes, it’s not so bad,” Morris says. “People know who I am pretty quickly from that.”
Soriano has learned to deal with it by now.
“I got the jokes early in preseason, a little comment here and there. Some guys are surprised, like ‘Why are you playing football?’ But they respect it.”
It’s not like a Harvard degree is something you can hide. After all, it doesn’t get much more Ivy League than going to Europe after graduation.
—Staff writer Lisa J. Kennelly can be reached at kennell@fas.harvard.edu.