Bam! Bears Sign Troubled Morris

Running back Bam Morris, who was suspended twice for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy and who spent 89 days in jail this year for marijuana possession, was signed to a one-year contract by the Chicago Bears on Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morris, 26, rushed for 744 yards in 11 games last season for the Baltimore Ravens, the team he led in rushing in 1996.

With contract talks with first-round draft pick Curtis Enis at an apparent impasse, the Bears have been looking to add some backfield help.

Morris, who was released by the Ravens in January, played at Texas Tech where he won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's top collegiate running back in 1993.

He helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl in 1996 and was the game's leading rusher. He was released months later after his legal troubles began.

He originally was arrested near Rockwall, Texas, on March 22, 1996, when a state trooper found six pounds of marijuana in the trunk of his Mercedes-Benz. That June, he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana and prosecutors dropped a more serious charge of cocaine possession.

He was placed on six years' probation, fined $7,000 and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service. But he ended up having to serve jail time after admitting he missed seven meetings with his probation officer from July 1996 to August 1997.

Morris, who had contact with the Kansas City Chiefs recently only to be told the team wasn't interested in signing him, is the brother of former Bears wide receiver Ron Morris.

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