Huntingdon Valley native Jimmy Morrissey is continuing to subvert expectations: he went from a college walk-on to starting four games as center for Houston Texans this season, writes Joseph Santoliquito for the Philly Voice.

When he was leaving La Salle College High School, the 6-foot-3, 300-pound player was under-recruited and deemed undersized. He went on to play as a walk-on at Pitt and soon became a three-time all-ACC center.

He was selected by Las Vegas Raiders in the 2021 NFL Draft’s seventh round and he managed to work his way onto the Raiders’ practice squad.

In November, he started his first NFL game for the Texans.

“I stood there with my hand on my heart, and my helmet under my arm for the national anthem and that’s when it hit me,” recalled Morrissey. “I thought back at all of the times no college coach returned any of the hundreds of emails I sent out, or the seven college camps I went to, when no coach paid any attention to me, and it all came back.”

For the determined player, that was “an incredible moment that I will never forget.”

Read more about Jimmy Morrissey and his football career in the Philly Voice.

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