His college roommate, also a 2015 Madison graduate, killed himself in March. It has been an especially rough year for him, he told me. It’s opened my eyes.”Įyes wet, he buried his face in his hands. “I never did drugs, not once, and used to look down on people who use drugs, but now I have empathy for them after what happened to my brother,” he said. The text said the candy was “usually individually wrapped, stickier than normal.” Lee advised Morrison to be aware of students with gummy bears because they could be laced with a synthetic stimulant called flakka, known to cause violent behavior. He said the methamphetamine pipe in the car wasn’t his because he only snorted the drug.Īs Morrison told me about that player, a text from Lee, the assistant coach, popped up on his cellphone. The police had found the player passed out in a car with a marijuana blunt and a pocketful of prescription pills, including Clonazepam, (an anti-seizure and anti-anxiety drug), Promethazine (an allergy and motion sickness drug) and Trazodone (an antidepressant). Morrison later saw a newspaper article about the player. It’s the downtime that worries me.”Īnother player who quit the team eventually dropped out of school and vanished. But if they have nothing else, that’s what worries me. “If they have something else going on, like another activity, then it can be O.K. “It’s crushing when you strike out with a player,” said Morrison, a middle school technology teacher. “Because of him, I’ve gained 60, 70 younger brothers, and I want to keep you from doing the things he did. “There’s a whole correlation between him, and me getting this job,” Morrison told his players during that summer speech. Zach was given a nine-year prison sentence. “Just want to let you know that we arrested your brother,” the officer said. The police called Patric Morrison the night before he interviewed for the Madison coaching job. They were kart-racing daredevils on their 10 acres of property. The boys fished for walleye on camping trips. As a boy, Patric Morrison was dark-haired, husky and cautious. Morrison, 30, is five years older than his brother, Zach. He can show up for a test without even studying and get 100 - somebody who had to be triple-teamed on the football field. “I have this younger brother,” Morrison told his players between two-a-day practices. During his speech to kick off last season, he explained why.

Winning football games is not his top goal.

Madison courier