Anthony Morelli

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Anthony Morelli
College	Penn State
Conference	Big Ten
Sport	Football
Position	QB
Jersey #	14
Class	Junior
Career	2004 – present
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Nationality	United States
Born	June 21, 1985 (age 21) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
High School	Penn Hills High School, Penn Hills, Pennsylvania

Anthony Michael Morelli (born June 21, 1985 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American football quarterback, playing collegiately for Penn State University. Coming out of Penn Hills High School in suburban Pittsburgh, he was rated the No. 2 quarterback in the country and was named to the USA Today Top 25 Supreme Team, among others.

1 College
2 Controversy
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] College

Morelli originally committed to the University of Pittsburgh in August of 2003 [1], but de-committed and chose Penn State instead.

Morelli's junior year at Penn State got off to a good start: He threw a 42-yard touchdown on his first pass as the Nittany Lion's starting quarterback in a 34-16 win over the University of Akron. However, he has struggled since, particularly in a 28-6 loss to rival Ohio State. With the Lions down 14-6, Morelli threw two late interceptions that Ohio State returned for touchdowns, effectively ending any hopes of a comeback and making the game look a lot more lopsided than it was. Morelli finished the game with only 106 yards passing. As a result of this performance, Morelli's play has become a polarizing issue amongst Nittany Lion fans. Some fans want to bring in backup Daryll Clark, a redshirt freshman whose style of play resembles that of Morelli's predecessor and former Heisman hopeful, Michael Robinson. Other fans have come to Morelli's defense, pointing out the amount of playing time typically required to develop good quarterbacks. By season's end, Morelli had thrown for 2,424 yards, 11 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. He took over third place on Penn State's season passing yardage list, trailing only Kerry Collins (1994) and Tony Sacca (1991). Morelli expressed frustration over the conservative nature of Penn State's play calling in a November 2006 interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. [2]

[edit] Controversy

Morelli revealed that he has not spoken with high school coach Neil Gordon since his final game in 2003. He accused Gordon and his staff of sabotaging his college recruitment, spreading rumors about his intelligence and his ability to read defenses. [3]

Morelli told the assembled media for the 2007 Outback Bowl that he's received numerous death threats during the 2006 season. [4]

[edit] Trivia

As a 10-year-old, Morelli won the National Football League's 1995 Punt, Pass and Kick competition, throwing a 50-yard pass in front of his hometown crowd at Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium. [5]

In 6th grade, Morelli guided the St. Bartholomew Bruins JV Basketball team to a Diocesan Championship.