We’ve all seen and heard about the profligate car buying habits of so many professional football players, but this story really goes against the grain. Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris bought this 1991 Mazda 626 when he was in college from his then-pastor for $2. And despite being on his second multi-million dollar contract with the NFL since 2012, he refuses to buy a new car and replace his baby, which he has named “The Bentley”. As he told 5PointsBlue: “It’s always going to be my baby and I’m going to drive it ’til she dies.” Morris, who comes from humble beginnings, added that he drives the Mazda as a way to remind himself to stay grounded.
From that article:
Morris and his car first gained attention during his first season with the Redskins in 2012. The rookie 6th round pick’s ride didn’t fit in with the gleaming sports cars driven by his teammates. He had driven the car on a 20-hour road trip from his home in Florida; the expired parking sticker from his senior year was still stuck on the windshield.
Now that he’s with the Cowboys, he’s sticking with his old ride although he didn’t have to make the long drive from D.C. to Dallas.
“I had it shipped from Washington, D.C. I didn’t get to drive it down because I had to get here so quickly for ‘captain’s workouts’ after I signed with the Cowboys (on March 22nd),” says Morris. “They already had over 40 guys who were back for workouts. So I came quickly and was part of that. I had the car shipped and I’m driving it now.”
Because of all the publicity over his choice of ride, two years ago Mazda offered to restore the car. It’s still a stick shift, but at least now the air conditioner works!
Also, the AM-FM tape deck was replaced with a touch screen audio system, the cloth seats were replaced with cross-stitched leather seats, and a total of 275 man hours were spent making it look and drive as if the car were newly rolled off an assembly line. The old parking sticker, however, remains in place.
Morris will hold onto the car to remind himself to remain humble. He is one of seven sons born to Ronald & Yvonne Morris in Pensacola, Florida. His father worked construction, and his mother went back to school to earn a master’s degree in special education.
Hard work and humility are Morris’ family values. Driving the old car is a way of reminding himself to stay humble.
via 5PointsBlue Hat tip to Chris C!
As Mazdas go, I find this 626 more attractive than anything produced today. I’d buy one if I can find one in decent condition and at a price I can afford.
Agreed. My family bought our first MPV, a used ’89 RWD 4cyl model with 90k miles back in ’95. We liked it so much that in ’01 we bought our ’98 MPV Allsport 4wd ES. Both cars are still in the family, the ’89 with over 230k miles, the ’98 with 170k.
Mazda’s increasing focus on swoopy styling and sporty handling seems to have come at the expense of pragmatic engineering for utility and durability. I think the late 80s-early 90s were the pinnacle for Mazda: MPV, 323, 626, B-series were all well built, practical, with some fun to drive factor baked in.
The fwd-based MPV in 2000 was a very poor replacement for the MK1 vans, the the current CX9 cannot hold a candle to the overall package of that old MPV either.
Great cars, I had three at different times over a stretch in the 90’s. A 1989 626 turbo SEDAN, white, quite a sleeper, which I sold at 155,000 miles, a 1991 LX 4dr liftback that gave it’s life for me on I-5 between after being rear ended by a semi into a disabled car and a 1991 MX-6 coupe.
Solid and comfortable cars for a tall guy.
I didn’t know those turbo sedans existed until I read about them here. As a former ’89 Probe GT owner, they sound pretty appealing.
I had a couple myself, my favorite was an 88 sedan the same color, a 5-speed. Loved that car. Went to the ex in the divorce. She couldn’t drive a stick.
Excellent choice in cars but probably the only reason he got it was because it was $2 to start. I remember this story from when it first appeared, Now I purchased my 86 based on my research at the time. Today there is a 90 Sedan (auto) and 91 Hatchback (stick) used pretty much as daily drivers split among another two cars. The 91 beats his $2 1990 as a friend just parked the 170,000 mile car in front of my house and handed me the keys. I know of another 90 stick sedan with low miles for sale but can I get to it? If I can…
Maybe if he would have left it unrestored and just repaired what broke on it.
But….275 man hours at Mazda shop rates of, oh, $100/hr…now your at $27,500. And that was on Mazda’s dime not his.
Takes a bit of the lustre off of the ‘humble’.
But still a nice ride and beats the heck out of spending $250K on some foreign roadster.
Busman,
Please keep in mind that Alfred Morris did not ask Mazda to restore his car. Mazda took the initiative to offer it because Morris had become well known nationally as a star NFL player who was low paid by NFL standards as a low round draft pick, and his old Mazda had already been locally famous in the Washington area for several years. His saying yes to what amounted to a modest endorsement deal, when some other athletes get millions from shoe companies, is certainly not a sign of arrogance or lack of humility.
Just so ~
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Class cannot be purchased , many of his peers would be wise to pay close attention to him here .
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Football doesn’t last forever , there are so many who failed to look ahead and blew out a knee or whatever and are now roaming the streets in search of some job…
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-Nate
Advertising is expensive. For the exposure that Mazda will get for their investment, the cost of restoration is a bargain.
What kind of exposure does this provide? Buy one of our cars so you can be reminded every day that you came from nothing?
It shows that even millionaires love their old Mazdas.
Any moron with half a brain and a fat contract could drive the latest fadmobile. I think it’s more in the vein of
“This pro player could choose to own any car he wants. He’s driving the car he chose to drive. And we applaud his choice, on and off the field.
Just ask Alfred Zoom Zoom Morris.”
some of you guys are such dicks. sorry for the ad honinem and delete it if you want but c’mon. this is a nice story and you have to be a dick about it.
Since it’s not targeted at any one specific person, it’s (borderline) ok. And the fact that I fully agree with you makes it quite ok. You said it for me.
Sometimes I am amazed at what folks will find to be negative about. Anything, it seems.
My rule of thumb is that, if a user name is one that seems to some up a lot among “The Best and Brightest” at TTAC’s comment sections (a term I think was probably intended as sarcastic, actually), I usually don’t bother reading that comment.
Seriously. Talk about damned if you do damned if you don’t.
Joe. Agreed.
And regarding the B&B name: I was writing at TTAC when founder/Editor Farago came up with that. Like everything he did, it was just another cynical way to fawn over the commenters, to make them feel smarter than they often were.
What most people don’t know is that Farago’s previous career was as a professional hypnotist (seriously). It took some of us less time to fall out of his spell than it did for others. He knew how to play people very well…
Exactly what I always thought, Paul. It seemed obvious to me that the whole B&B thing was a joke, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that people didn’t get it.
I wish people would figure out that the reason websites need to foster a “community,” is that the arguments in the comments generate a pretty significant number of page hits. I don’t know enough about web ad revenue models to know if it’s a significant benefit to have the same folks refreshing the page and commenting over and over. But it really seems to me that so many sites only generate enough controversial content to get the same 50 or so people arguing in circles on five articles a day.
Certainly a different model than sites like this and AUWM, which generate quality content and earn every page view they get (and then some).
Every time I’m at TTAC and fall into the trap of reading the comments I’ll invariably see several mentions of “B&B” when referring to themselves. Heck even the TTAC writers use it. And every time I’ll roll my eyes.
“B&B” is (or at least seems to be) used just as much sarcastically as sincerely these days.
+1
There’s no lack of lustre on Morris’s humility. On a team full of knuckleheads (in a league full of knuckleheads), during his time in Washington Morris always demonstrated that he’s a genuinely grounded guy who’s easy to root for. He didn’t ask for attention about his car and seemed genuinely puzzled when others made a big deal about his keeping his old car rather than buying something flashy.
As others have noted, Mazda approached him with the offer. He didn’t ask Mazda for anything. There’s nothing wrong with him accepting Mazda’s offer.
Exactly. So it now is more like a showroom-condition 1991 626? Still remarkable for a football player who could drive literally anything he wants. And the history he has with the car is still intact. We may have plenty of memories, sometimes frustrating, sometimes pleasant in the large and small imperfections of an old car–but it’s a lot more viable to drive frequently when you don’t have to worry about breakdowns or battle worn out parts. It’s the best of both worlds and doesn’t take anything away from the story. (In my opinion.)
I’m quite confident that just about all the folks who read this site — including me — has had at least one or two older cars that they would be content to keep driving indefinitely if only it didn’t become uneconomical to take care of all the age-related issues and miscellaneous wear and tear. Morris had the opportunity to “magically” fix all of those and he took it. I certainly would have, so I can’t blame him for doing the same!
Agreed. Although I personally would not have chosen to go non-factory on the head unit and seats. Surely somewhere in there Mazda could have figured out how to add modern infotainment features in a factory looking dash. Assuming he had asked, of course.
Awesome story. I love that he is connected and staying true to his background, including his car. There are multitudes of lists of millionaires that choose to own relatively humble cars (the most famous and humble of which is the founder of IKEA and his 80s Volvo 240 wagon). The truly humble always bring a smile to my face. One cannot fake or manufacture strength of character such as this displays.
My thoughts exactly. I’m happy for Alfred, happy for Mazda, and the sight of his old 626 makes me smile.
I baby my 16-year-old Ford Ranger, because it’s the only truck I’ve ever bought brand-new. But at some point It’s going to come down to the fact that while I can certainly afford to fix the peeling paint, various dings, and loose suspension, I can also easily afford another new truck, which will be more comfortable – and can be done with the stroke of a pen, versus time and trips to the body shop and repair shop for the Ranger. The trade off (besides the cash outlay, of course) is that I will then have to haul two rambunctious dogs and various building and landscaping materials in a – gulp – new vehicle.
Unless of course Ford wishes to bless me with a rebuild of the Ranger, in exchange for the image enhancement of being associated with a middle aged banker living in the middle of nowhere. ?
Paul,
Please refer to him as “former Washington Redskin Alfred Morris” instead of as “Dallas Cowboy Alfred Morris.” Hearing the latter really stings here in the Washington area.
Alfred Morris’ old Mazda 626 was very well known to Redskins fans. Morris became a star in his first year in the NFL in 2012 for setting team rushing records, and the Mazda became locally famous immediately. Redskins fans loved him for being a very good player and for also being a genuinely humble person, and the Mazda reflected his personality perfectly.
It is good to see his car story getting national attention now, after being a local legend for the past four years.
Good for Morris and good for Madza. I had expected a “Sam Walton drives an old pick-up” story and I’m happy to see that it isn’t the case here.
You see, in the 90’s I had a boss who loved to keep telling me about good ol Sam and his old truck. I finally told him that it was because a rich man could afford to drive an old truck, while a poor man needed a car with a warranty if he could at all afford it. That is, you see, if good ol Sam burned a cigarette hole in his driver’s seat, he just took one of his other cars to work while the seat was being replaced with OEM parts by professional mechanics. A poor man with a no-warranty car has to let the the little problems pile up and every morning as the car stumbles to a start takes a chance of missing a day’s work and getting in trouble with the boss, AND having to borrow money from his mother-in-law. A car with a warranty is worth enough to fix so he gets to work every day, or at least often enough to make the payments.
You can argue with my theory but it shut my boss up for a while…
Great story. I am not a huge sports fan, but stories like this are why I follow it at all.
Funny, I had kind of hoped that Mazda might give me a call some day. After all, I have given some pretty good exposure to a certain 97 Miata . . . .
Wait until this coming Sunday JP; I’m right behind you in line.
I can see the headlines now: “18 year old NJ based Miata hits 36,000 miles; owner gets reprimand for not driving it enough! Use it or lose it he is told.”
Love it! “Mr. Plaut? We are here for your Mazda. Let this be a lesson to you.”
Reminds me of Mark Davis, owner of the Raiders. This is his ride, a 1997 Grand Caravan with Mark III Conversion kit. With VHS!
He doesn’t drive it to remember his roots though, since he was born into money. He’s just an odd guy. Or maybe a die-hard CC’er?
He also uses a 2003 Nokia phone “with full texting capability”. He’s worth about $500 million.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13735322/are-mark-davis-raiders-leaving-oakland
whoops forgot the pic:
Again, if the transmission goes, other people will wait for him.
It also looks like he doesn’t go for the typical sports hero Rolex or Omega either.
I’m not sure, but that red watch looks like a TIMEX Ironman 8 wrap 1986 edition Safari T5K842, or something like it. About 34 dollars on Amazon.
I had that watch in middle school, and when the buttons wore out, another identical one in high school! The black and gray version though, I’ve never seen one in red.
Stories like this about athletes are far too rare.
Nice. Good thing he came from Washington state so the Mazda didn’t rust away.
Make that he’s from Florida and plays in DC . I’m not much of a sports fan, obviously.
I am not a fan of these type stories. After enough has been put aside to secure his family’s future, there is nothing wrong with having a small splurge on a nice car. Vainly broadcasting how humble one is much worse than a successful person enjoying the rewards of what he has honestly earned.
Just my two cents.
He didn’t broadcast it. The media did.
Can’t please everybody.
Considering how many professional sports stars have ended up bankrupt or in severe financial straits, I’d say he looks pretty smart. A retired professional football who lives in this area ended up selling his Super Bowl ring to pay his debts, and he still had to declare bankruptcy.
At any rate, if he gets married, I’m pretty sure that a new vehicle will be appearing in the driveway. At least he’ll definitely have enough money to pay for it.
This is an important point. It’s really easy to see how guys at this level of their careers can end up getting upside down financially. They get a seven-figure contract — sounds great! But first, it’s usually for several consecutive years, not just one. Then they have an agent, and a business manager, and a sports attorney to negotiate the deal. That ends up being about 25% off the top. Then, divide by the number of years of the contract. A bunch of that goes for taxes (plus a bit for a good accountant to handle the taxes). If the guy has some student loans or other bills to pay off, or wants to help mom/dad/older sis with theirs, that’s some more.
What they have left after all that isn’t too shabby, but it’s more like lower six figures per annum, not millions. If they’re careful with their money, it’s plenty to live very comfortably on, thank you very much, but if they get carried away with big-ticket extravagances — matching Escalades for their friends, handing out a Rolex to every cocktail waitress — they can run out of cash very quickly. Guys like this can afford a new Bentley, but it might be a third of their total after-tax/after-expense net for their entire contract term.
Regarding John C.’s note above: In the early 1980s, I lived next door in a Bergen County condo to Foots Walker, NJ Nets Guard, and a heck of a nice guy.
He rented the condo and drove an older Mercedes, 4 door, nice car and in good shape, but no way new.
He told me he was using his Jets earnings to buy or setup local small businesses and staff those business with his relatives and extended family.
“I can’t do this forever” he told me; “I need a long term financial strategy.”
Two things stay in my mind about Foots
1. I was an inch or more taller than him. That felt good!
2. He had a really beautiful wife.
Smart fellow as well as a nice guy.
And across from Foots lived Dave Brcic, second goalie for the Cosmos soccer franchise. He gave my son Chris a soccer ball with all of the Cosmos’ signatures on it. Chris still has that ball.
I’m not a fan of these type of stories when it’s like Tim Tebow’s Thunderbird “oh look how humble I am, I started with this, and now that I’m a success I’ll have Richard petty mod it and immediately auction it off for charity… because Tax break! Screw that car!”
In this case however I find it refreshing, it’s a car he not only came up with but actually proudly cherishes to date despite not being glamorous. If there’s anything I’d criticize about the story it would be for the patronizing elements of the source article, like the bewilderment of not picking a stereotypical Luxury SUV, or still driving a Manual shift car, or laughing at the lack of value of it because Kelly Blue Book doesn’t go that old.
Great story! Bravo, Alfred Morris and Mazda!
Maybe it’s common knowledge by now, but I’m surprised no one has brought up Chris “Ludacris” Bridges’ 1993 Acura Legend. Similar story, he has kept it to remind him of where he came from, and Acura did a factory restore recently. Although I know Luda is a car guy and has a ton of other vehicles.
He even put the Legend on the cover of his latest album.
I thought of that one in an upthread reply posted after your comment and specifically scrolled down to make sure I didn’t steal someone else’s thunder. Ha.
I first learned about it when he excitedly showed it off on “Cribs.” Ludacris is very proud of that Acura. I think it’s endearing.
I do enjoy hearing this type of story–because he’s not doing it for the PR value, but to keep to his own values. And that was a classy move by Mazda to do the factory restoration for him–it makes them look good, sure, but it’s one of those “everybody wins” situations.
Cool story of the day. Profoundly sad about the cynicism on the part of some over Mazda’s offer. Who among us would have turned them down? Not me.
Agree. As others have said, its effectively a modest endorsement deal, and the restoration will allow Morris to keep on keeping on with his reminder that fame and money can be fleeting.
Having someone restore a similarly mundane piece of Japanese auto history would be a dream for me, quite honestly. When a car has absolutely zero collector value or emotional appeal to most people, enthusiast or otherwise, it’s VERY hard to justify the expenditure. But some of us, and that apparently includes Mr. Morris, recognize the qualities of such cars which appeal to us and don’t want an ostentatious, digitally-sanitized new car. If I had that kind of money, I’d eagerly turn my Civic sedan into a closet Type-R in librarian’s clothing over buying anything new on the market today.
I think his decision reflects some strength of character. He might be mocked for his choice, or it may be attributed to “humbleness,” but maybe he just loves the 626. Honestly, what’s so different about restoring a car like this vs restoring a ’69 Chevelle? Both were intended to be family transport with mass appeal and salability emphasized over other values (of course, I also happen to be of the belief that the 626 of this generation handled better than all the non-Gallic front-drive competition of the era and looked very good–would love a turbo 5-door).
Putting money into a mundane car is not all bad. At some point, you have “transportation costs” and keeping and keeping some older cars in decent shape is just the cost of living.
I’ve had a 2002 Durango since new, and each year seems to require that I drop about $1,500 in it to keep it going. With cheap insurance and tags, the car costs around $2,200 a year to keep it going for basic commuting for my kids. Everything on the vehicle works properly, and I even had some minor accident damage cleaned up this year. It still looks nice.
My 2012 truck costs me $550 a month in payments that have a little while to go yet, and tags and insurance are expensive. The old car is a comparative bargain!
Seems to me that it runs deeper than humbleness. To me, he seems like a fellow human who knows that life is about the journey, experiences, history, and relationships with both people and things rather than a constant challenge to as quickly as possible raise a tally of things and favors as high as possible. The car has history, and a story to tell, and part of that history is his history. Very admirable.
People here at CC are probably predisposed to at least some level of that thinking, moreso than most, especially as it relates to cars and their history.
You and I don’t have quite the same tastes, but I share your appreciation for early-90s Japanese cars. Some are still quite handsome, the materials quality is often higher than on their present-day descendants, and they’re technologically modern enough to be trustworthy daily drivers if you could take age-related wear out of the picture. One might want a later stereo head unit with an aux jack, but that’s pretty trivial for a ’90s car.
If I could have a brand-new version of the 1991 Honda Prelude Si 4WS I once owned — ideally with ABS, which mine didn’t have — I’d consider it. It was a very competent car even in the areas where it wasn’t outstanding, and I still like the looks better than any of Honda’s current offerings.
Here is the New York Times story on the car’s restoration including pics and details on the car:
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/17/washington-redskins-running-back-gets-a-new-91-mazda/
Wow, that really was a complete restoration. Frame-off and new trim pieces made-to-order from Mazda using the original molds. Pretty neat.
Besides the frame- off pic, for me, the two most interesting things were the crank windows and the commemorative plaque on the engine.
Bummer: I’ve hit my limit of free articles this month already.
I sure with the Times had a $2-3/mo plan for casual readers like me. I’d sign up. But their cheapest plan is $3.75 per WEEK. Sorry NYT, I don’t get that much value from you.
clean out all of your cookies; delete all browser memory; restart browser.
they have a paywall, but they need reader volume and clicks to keep the ad revenue up, so they make it relatively easy.
Open an Incognito browser (Chrome) or InPrivateBrowsing window (explorer), read your limit, then open a new one, works every time 🙂
Great story. A lot of sports stars do go broke after retirement, some because of ridiculous spending, a fair number get caught in investments that go bad.
We have a local boy done good. Doug McDermott of the Chicago Bulls played for his dad / coach at Creighton University. Doug stayed with Creighton a final season to finish his degree, costing him about a million dollars. My daughter was visiting colleges shortly after this story broke. The Creighton people relished in telling the story and asking “what is the value of a Creighton education? A million dollars!”
I don’t know if anything has changed, but the story after McDermott got started with the Bulls is that he bought a Suburban, rented a reasonable apartment near his work, and is banking as much of his salary as possible. He’s a smart guy, knowing that he may not always have access to big money.
I wonder what I have to do to get Toyota to restore my old Matrix to fresh condition and upgrade me to leather seats! Man, I’d love that. I’d drive that car for the rest of my life.
I feel the same about my 99 Avalon. Would definitely drive it indefinitely. The positive of having dramatically more money for me would be ease in keeping it in top mechanical shape without having to bust my knuckles and pour sweat quite so much, and speccing the best quality aftermarket or OEM parts. I would love to have a perpetually showroom-fresh Avalon.
So I suppose it’s a rush to see which of us becomes famous enough to woo Toyota to our cause first.
That’s cool. That’s just plain cool. A tip of the hat to Mr. Morris.
Let’s hope Mr Morris is socking away the cash.??
As stated above, so many athletes squander their money or end up declaring bankruptcy. Anyone remember the “Boz” or Lenny Dyksrta. Not a dime to show for their efforts!!??
6_Speed, It’s not just athletes. Stagnant wages, high living costs, and the ever present desire for newer, bigger, more (er) are having a bad impact on regular people saving for their post career lives.
Some say “I like to work, so I’ll keep doing that”. But the problem is sometimes older people working for large companies get laid-off, riffed, or right-sized, and then they find it hard to get another job like or even close to what they had.
It’s called age discrimination, and it is real.
I tell my son(s), my friend’s kids, and anyone else who will listen (not too many sadly) to start saving for old age at an early age whenever you can. If you have the opportunity, max out IRA and 401K contributions, max the employer match if offered, forgo that new car or bigger home if it will impact your savings, and invest only in low fee indexed funds, preferable indexed to the S&P 500.
Working for yourself and using practical personal skills allows a much longer and self controlled career, but of course there are trade-offs, one of which is it requires a lot of hard, self motivated work. It would seem to me that Paul has successfully taken this path.
This lecture brought to you by “no-one-told-me-this-I-learned-it-the-hard-way”.
You are absolutely correct on all points!
I’ve been fortunate in that I had some (not perfect) knowledge of getting started on retirement savings at an early age. My first employer during my high school and college years was a local family owned supermarket chain. They offered a profit sharing program that included part time employees. The result was an annual check for maybe a few hundred dollars, and they also put a little something into a retirement account that they set up for you.
That account had maybe around $1,700 in it when I left that employer. Most of the kids spent that money, probably after a tax hit. I rolled the money into my next employer’s retirement plan.
30 years later, I have no idea what portion of my retirement accounts is a result of that money. My best guess is maybe $12,000 or so, and it has years to grow yet. Money simply given to me years ago, nothing I expected when I got a job there.
The family that owned the chain really cared about its employees, and taught me a little something about thrift and saving.
Lot of haters finding fault here. Look! He even washes it himself! I think it’s great what he’s choosing to do.
Not exactly an NFL player, but I had a group VP in a company I used to work for, one of Silicon Valley’s largest multi-billion dollar corporations, who drove a stick shift 626 coupe when all his colleagues (and much of his staff) were in BMW’s, Mercedes … or Ferraris. And his wife drove a 1st gen Isuzu Trooper.
The division head in a regional bank I worked for drove a Plymouth Horizon for many years.
Several years later, the company seemed to lose its compass, and hired a bunch of people they thought would magically turn a solid profitable company into a mega profit machine. Those guys ended up fired in a flurry of faked resumes, sexual harassment, and malfeasance. But, they sure drove nice (probably leased) cars as they left the company for the last time.
Way back in the day Browns linebacker Clay Mathews drove a beater ’73 Capri instead of driving some fancy luxury car.