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Morgan wins 2021 Burlsworth Trophy

Grant Morgan was a team captain for the Razorbacks this season.
Grant Morgan was a team captain for the Razorbacks this season. (Arkansas Athletics)

BENTONVILLE — Arkansas linebacker Grant Morgan has won the 2021 Burlsworth Trophy.

In his second straight year as a finalist, the sixth-year senior from Greenwood, Ark., was awarded the trophy in a ceremony Monday night at Crystal Bridges. He edged out Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett IV and Troy linebacker Carlton Martial.

Last season, Morgan lost out to Pittsburgh center Jimmy Morrissey in what some considered an upset. Going up against Bennett, who guided the Bulldogs to an undefeated regular season and College Football Playoff berth, it seemed like he might meet the same fate as Darren McFadden with the Heisman Trophy, but that didn’t come to fruition.

“It was a long year from being a finalist last year and thinking I was literally a walk-on again, someone doubted me, the selection doubted me,” Morgan said as he accepted the award. “That’s how I took it upon myself. Wow, to be a winner, this means so much to me.”

The Burlsworth Trophy is named after former Arkansas walk-on offensive lineman Brandon Burlsworth and is awarded annually to the nation’s most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. Morgan is the Razorbacks' first ever winner of the award.

Turning down offers from Air Force and a handful of DII programs, Morgan chose to walk-on at Arkansas in 2016 and was awarded a scholarship during his redshirt sophomore season in 2018. Playing mostly as a backup linebacker, he recorded 101 total tackles from 2017-19.

Last year, Morgan burst onto the scene and led the country with 113 tackles during the regular season before ultimately finishing third in the FBS because of the bowl game cancelation. His 12.3 tackles per game tied for the nation’s lead and he was a unanimous first-team All-SEC selection.

That would have been his final season, but the NCAA granted an extra year to college athletes because of the pandemic, giving Morgan an opportunity to return to Arkansas for a sixth season. His trust in Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman’s leadership was enough to convince him to play another year for the Razorbacks.

“He’s going to be a great coach if that’s what he wants to do - I’ve said that before,” Pittman said. “I hope he’s as happy that he came back as us coaches are that he did. I hope he feels the same way about him coming back that we do. We’re very honored that he came back.”

This season, Morgan was the leader of the defense as a team captain. He racked up 96 tackles on the year, good for sixth in the SEC, and ranked fifth among the 25 SEC linebackers who played at least 500 snaps with a 71.2 grade from Pro Football Focus.

He did all of that despite dealing with several different nagging injuries through the season.

“He was beat up a little bit with different injuries,” Pittman said. “It wasn’t quite as smooth for him as it was a year ago, even though he got hurt there towards the end of the year. But he’s a physical guy. Linebackers are going to get dinged up, and he played through it.”

Since the creation of the award in 2010, Morgan is the only Arkansas player to be named a finalist. He joined Washington’s Luke Falk and Oklahoma’s Baker Mayfield as the only players to be finalists more than once.

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