Dr. Mike Morton (Kannapolis) transitioned from professional football to dentistry in 2001. The ex-NFL star and Super Bowl champion practices general dentistry and owns a practice near Charlotte.
MIKE Morton is a Super Bowl champion, a father of quadruplets, a full-time dentist, and an NFL official.
The former linebacker had a seven-year career in the NFL and helped the St. Louis Rams win Super Bowl XXXIV in January 2000.
He also competed for the Oakland Raiders, Green Bay Packers, and Indianapolis Colts.
After retiring in 2001 following a back injury, the University of North Carolina graduate returned to Chapel Hill and enrolled at the UNC School of Dentistry.
Incredibly, he became a father of quadruplets the day before he took his final live-patient dental exam.
Morton has had his own practice in Kannapolis, North Carolina, a Charlotte suburb, since 2003.
“I was still thinking about med school when I got an infected wisdom tooth,” Morton told The Salisbury Post.
“I went into a dental office in pain and walked out not hurting. That validated dentistry for me. It has its place.”
As a weekend sideline, Morton has worked as a football official for the past 16 years, at various levels including high school, the ACC, and the Alliance of American Football.
After participating in one of the NFL’s officiating programs, he was selected as a league official last year.
Morton made history as the first Super Bowl-winning player to officiate a game in the NFL.
“My dad was a high school official when I was a kid,” Morton told The Athletic.
"And when I was finishing up dental school, there was a push by the league to get former players started in officiating."
Being an official is sometimes a thankless job but Morton relishes being part of a team again.
"This may sound strange, but you grow up as an athlete and you play a sport or sports long enough and far along enough, you’re part of a team and you really miss that camaraderie when you’re done," he says.
"It’s great being a part of a team again and going out and eating after games, telling stories, and hearing stories.”
Source The Sun Article