Starting April 24, Johnnie Morant will have a chance for a new beginning. Not to mention a hefty paycheck.

Morant, the Syracuse football team’s talented but underachieving former wide receiver, will likely be selected in the third round of that day’s NFL Draft, said SU strength and conditioning coach Will Hicks, who serves as the Orangemen’s pro scout liaison.

The Minnesota Vikings have expressed significant interest in Morant, who will work out for scouts and coaches from about six to eight teams today at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse’s second and final Pro Day.

The Vikings have the 19th pick in the third round. Like many teams, they’re intrigued by Morant’s physical gifts. He stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs about 230 pounds. At the NFL Combine, held Feb. 18-24 in Indianapolis, Morant recorded a 41-inch vertical leap, the second-highest figure at the combine, Hicks said. Morant has also run about 4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, Hicks said.

Morant did not return a message left yesterday on his cell phone seeking comment.

‘They don’t make 6-4, 230-pound guys like that every day,’ Hicks said. ‘You can talk to three people from the same team, and (where he will get drafted) depends on who you talk to. With those situations, it’ll depend, on Draft Day, who else is left out there and who’s gonna be willing to roll the dice.’

And some teams might view selecting Morant as such a gamble.

In the fall of 2000, he came to Syracuse as the nation’s No. 3-rated high school receiver. But he struggled to learn the playbook. Still, SU coaches didn’t redshirt him his freshman year, a season in which he played in three games and caught zero passes. Over the next two seasons, he had just two touchdowns and developed a reputation for dropping passes.

His problems continued off the field. He was suspended twice for academic reasons. In the summer of 2001, he was arrested and charged with giving a police officer false identity during a traffic stop. In April 2002, he punched SU lacrosse player Mike Springer and was suspended for three games the next fall.

As a senior last fall, Morant finally cashed in his potential. He caught 46 passes, four more than his first two seasons combined, and had five touchdowns.

‘(NFL teams) think his best football’s in front of him,’ Hicks said. ‘We really wish we had one more year with Johnnie.’

Syracuse coaches and Morant’s agent, Gary Wichard, encouraged Morant to be honest about his off-field issues when teams interviewed him in January at the Senior Bowl and at the combine.

‘As long as you’re not doing anything immoral or going on the dark side of life, (teams) are usually pretty forgiving,’ Wichard said.

SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s reputation for running a disciplined program helped teams give Morant the benefit of the doubt in those situations, Hicks said.

‘We advised him that (teams) are gonna know anyway, so you’ve gotta tell the truth,’ said Hicks, who has been a pro scout liaison since 1987. ‘Some teams have interns who do nothing but go online and pull articles off newspapers about incidents. Some guys have retired FBI guys who do their (background) work.’

But given some NFL players’ extensive rap sheets, scouts might be willing to focus more on Morant’s football potential.

At the Senior Bowl in January, Kansas City Chiefs wide receivers coach Charlie Joiner interviewed Morant, said Chuck Cook, the Chiefs’ director of college scouting. Cook is also good friends with Hicks and spoke with him about Morant, though Cook refused to divulge the contents of the conversation.

Cook did say that the Chiefs’ scouting department contacted plenty of people at Syracuse, including academic representatives, during their background check of Morant.

‘He’s a big thoroughbred,’ Cook said of Morant. ‘He’s a big, good-looking guy.’

Morant showed that at Syracuse’s first Pro Day, held in the Carrier Dome on March 17. Representatives from about 17 teams showed up and saw Morant run the 40 in 4.4 seconds. Afterward, the Vikings’ wide receivers coach, Charlie Baggett, watched for an hour as Morant, already exhausted, ran routes and caught passes from former SU quarterback R.J. Anderson, Hicks said.

‘In some ways,’ Hicks said, ‘they work you out when you’re tired to test you to see how far they can push you.’

Perhaps that afternoon offered a glimpse into Morant’s new beginning, now just 23 days away.

‘(The Vikings) like Johnnie,’ Hicks said. ‘They like they way he looks. They like the way it looks with Randy Moss on one side and Johnnie on the other.’

Published on March 31, 2004 at 12:00 pm