The Best Thing

Sometime in the middle of a career filled with success and setbacks, Dan Morgan acquired the nickname "Doubtful Dan."

It bothered him, angered him. And it bothered and angered those in the Carolina Panthers' organization just as much.
Morgan was a Pro Bowl linebacker in his prime, one of the spearheads of the Panthers' defense in their Super Bowl season, someone who embodied everything that teammates and coaches appreciate in a player. He was born to play football. He was dedicated, he was passionate, and when he was healthy he was among the best that has ever won a Panthers uniform.
Of course it bothered him and his friends when "Doubtful Dan" echoed from the sports-talk radio airwaves all the way to the permanent seats inside Bank of America Stadium. The guy didn't deserve to be dissed in any way, shape or form, especially if the nickname implied to some that he had no heart.
But what bothered them more was the reason for the nickname.
Morgan was "Doubtful Dan" because when the final stats go into the archives, Morgan played in 59 games out of a possible 112 over a seven-year career. That means he missed 53 out of 112, or almost as many as he played in.

Last season he missed the final 13 games, after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in the third game of the season at Atlanta. In previous years, there were shoulder problems, other bumps and bruises, and no fewer than five concussions that shelved him.

He couldn't stay healthy.
Morgan retired on Monday, as a member of the New Orleans Saints, after deciding that the rehab wasn't going well enough to continue. The Panthers released him last winter, and he had decided to give it one more try with the Saints rather than retire at the time.
There are mixed emotions for any player when he retires, and especially when a player is forced to retire prematurely because of injuries. And in that sense, it is sad that Morgan has been forced to call it quits at age 29, with what should have been several good seasons left in him.

But in another sense, this is probably the best way that it could have ended for Morgan, under the circumstances. The fact that Morgan retired because of an Achilles injury almost seems like divine intervention for those who believe in such things.

Preserving a legacy

Every time that Morgan took the field after his fifth concussion, many held their collective breath in fear of what a sixth concussion might do. Shoulders, knees, hips and other body parts can be repaired or replaced. Brains can't. Morgan insisted that he would never play in fear, and that's a testament to his competitiveness. But there were signs of denial in there, too, and that's what had others concerned. Nobody wanted to see Morgan carried off the field after one more vicious shot to the head.

Retirement now ends those fears, and Morgan will come back to Charlotte and enter the next phase of his life with his health intact. He wants to get into coaching, and he already has some business ventures going on here.
And soon enough, he will be remembered only as Dan Morgan, not "Doubtful Dan," because his legacy will be as a fierce competitor whose career was cut short by injuries. Not as someone who was always getting hurt and was putting the Panthers in a bind.

"When you talk about Dan, heart is the first word that comes to mind," Marty Hurney, the Panthers' general manager, said yesterday. "Dan loved football, loved to play football, and every time he stepped on the field he gave us everything he had. He played at one tempo and it was extremely high. He has a great passion for the game and he loved to play that's something you appreciate in this business, somebody who approaches the game the way he did."
Morgan told reporters who regularly cover the Panthers that he didn't want to put his family through any more worry. He said his family was "a little relieved" to hear the decision.
"Concussions are obviously something I take seriously, and that did play a factor," Morgan said. "But more than anything it was my body. My shoulder. My Achilles. I can deal with pain. But to me it was just not wanting to have to put my family through having to worry when I'm out there on the field."
Hurney was one who resented the criticism that Morgan took over the years.

Yet, Hurney, too, ultimately reached the decision that the Panthers needed to move on without Morgan.
That's why, under the circumstances, this is probably the best way that Morgan's career could have ended. If anything, the biggest regret might be that Morgan didn't go ahead and retire as a Panther before they released him.

"It's always hard when you see a player not be able to take the field because of injuries, because you know how badly they want to take it," Hurney said. "Obviously, we knew what Dan brought when he was on the field for us. But with that said, this is a game where injuries are part of it. Those things happen and you always realize that. That was certainly the way he approached it, the speed he played at. He was full-go every time he took the field."

John Delong can be reached at jdelong@wsjournal.com.