A bit more than two hours before Washington’s last home game, Alfred Morris emerged from the stadium tunnel and ambled down the home team’s sideline. FedEx Field was calm and quiet then. A few players and staffers from the Redskins and the Rams stretched on the field. Others sat on the benches and chatted. Some children carrying colorful flags excitedly lined up to practice a game-day presentation.

Morris veered past all this and headed straight to the far corner of the sideline. Once there, he hopped over the wall, sat down, and apologized for being late.

Thus began one of the most unusual pre-game routines in Washington sports: Morris’s weekly communion with his friends who work in guests services or security at FedEx Field. It’s a tradition he started during preseason of his rookie year — before he became one of the most productive running backs in the NFL — when an usher asked him to stop by and chat. The rookie obliged.

“He was just a normal person, treating me like a normal person,” Morris recalled. “So I kept doing it.”

Read the article “Redskins’ Alfred Morris Spends Pregame with Ushers, Security Guards” on washingtonpost.com.