Burlsworth winner, Pitt center Jimmy Morrissey never cut corners on way to success

Jimmy Morrissey played center and was a two-year captain at Pitt. In those roles, he was expected to notice everything on and off the football field.

It might be the way the middle linebacker shifts his weight before blitzing. Or, perhaps, the look in a teammate’s eyes when he might need a pat on the back.

When Morrissey watched the movie, “Greater,” the story of how Arkansas walk-on Brandon Burlsworth became an All-American, he noticed something that might have been easy to miss but really mattered — how the Razorbacks offensive lineman always walked on the sidewalk on his way to class.

“I thought that was a metaphor for never cut any corners,” Morrissey said.

That remark describes how Morrissey developed from an unwanted (by everyone but Pitt) walk-on in 2016 to a two-year team captain, three-time All-ACC center and the winner of the Burlsworth Trophy, given annually to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.

The Burlsworth Foundation made the announcement Monday, with Morrissey winning over two other finalists: BYU wide receiver Dax Milne, who was fourth in the nation in receiving yardage (1,188), and Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan, the first SEC player in five years to record 15 or more tackles in four games. Morrissey joined a list of past winners that includes NFL players Hunter Renfrow and Baker Mayfield.

Morrissey came to Pitt in 2016 without a scholarship, discovered by former Panthers line coach John Peterson. He passed up an Ivy League education at Dartmouth and half-scholarships to Lehigh, Colgate and Bucknell because he wanted to play major college football.

While receiving no such offers, he assembled a spread sheet with the names of coaches and recruiting coordinators at 128 FBS schools. He emailed them all.

Two responded. Miami (Ohio) was one, but when Morrissey sent a tape to the school, no one got back to him.

Meanwhile, his parents, Jim and Shivaun, had his back.

“I don’t think a lot of parents would be able to tell their kid to turn down an Ivy League education,” Morrissey said, “to go walk on and try to work their way to play football at Pitt.”

But after Morrissey became what many people call the face of the Pitt program over the past two seasons and a four-year starter, Jim Morrissey Sr. said, “For us as parents, it validates what we thought all along.”

It’s never easy for walk-ons — from the tuition their parents must pay to watching teammates, who might be inferior players, get those monthly scholarship checks.

But Morrissey, who carried a 3.42 grade-point average, said Pitt makes it palatable.

“I was skeptical about walking on, and then (coach Pat Narduzzi) gave me his word: ‘If I’m good enough to compete, I’ll play.’ He’s always been honest with me.

“You go to Pitt’s locker room today, you won’t be able to tell who the walk-ons are. That’s a huge testament to Duzz and how he runs his program. There are no politics. The best players will play.

“The University of Pittsburgh itself and the coaches, they treat everybody the same. Once you get in that locker room, five-stars or walk-on, you’re a football player. And they treat you accordingly.”

As it turned out, the Morrissey family wrote tuition checks for only one year. After taking a redshirt in 2016, he won the center job the next summer and ended up starting all 47 games he played over four seasons. He was third-team All-ACC as a sophomore, first-team a year later and second team in 2020.

“He’s a guy who was in first, out last,” quarterback Kenny Pickett said.

“What makes Jimmy such a great football player and a leader is his ability to gather people together and everyone will want to play for him,” Narduzzi said. “He’s tough, athletic, smart.”

Presently, Morrissey is in Pensacola, Fla., preparing for his next goal: an NFL career. He is considered one of the top centers available in the 2021 draft.

While preparing for the next level, he hasn’t forgotten the inspiration he has received from others. He said the people who said he wasn’t good enough are not the ones he’s trying to impress.

“The reason I wanted to work so hard was for my parents,” he said. “They believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself in high school. They believed in me when nobody else did.

“You don’t work so hard to prove (the doubters) wrong. You work so hard to prove your supporters right.”

Get the latest news about Pitt football and all things Panthers athletics.