Soul falls in finale, but Morgan hopes to catch on with NFL team

According to the AFL standings, last night's Soul-Pittsburgh game, which the Power won, 61-48, was meaningless. For Donovan Morgan, though, it was an opportunity to put more of his work on video for whenever the NFL resumes.

Everything was going well until disaster struck with 4 minutes left and the Soul's star wide receiver was left crumpled in the end zone.

"It was a corner route and when I came out of the corner and tried to adjust to the ball, my foot got caught under the boards and it twisted three times or whatever," said Morgan, visibly and understandably shaken.

The preliminary diagnosis was a high-ankle sprain. Morgan will be off his feet for 6 to weeks, which could put in jeopardy any hopes of getting back into an NFL camp. Whenever the dust settles, NFL teams will be looking for training-camp bodies, and Morgan, who has NFL experience, was as good an AFL candidate as any.

"I ask God to get me back in a training camp," Morgan said before last night's game at the Wells Fargo Center. "It's every kid's dream to be an NFL player, but if it doesn't happen for me, this [arena league] is going to be my NFL."

Morgan (6-3, 225) was having another solid outing with six catches for 112 yards and a touchdown before the injury. He came into the weekend leading the AFL in yards per catch (16.1) and was second in receiving yards per game (123.1). Morgan has been in four NFL organizations and in 2005 stuck with Houston long enough to play in three games.

"Those high-ankle sprains take a while to heal," Soul coach Mike Hohensee said glumly afterward. "It depends on what happens with these labor talks in the NFL and we'll see if he gets a shot."

Some folks think that this year the arena guys are in better shape to make NFL rosters because, well, they're in better shape. While their NFL brethren have been holding personal workouts and hanging on Chris Mortensen's every word, the AFL has been grinding through an 18-game schedule.

"I've been talking to a lot of [NFL] athletic trainers and there is a feeling among them that there is going to be a lot of injuries when the guys come back," Soul president/ESPN NFL analyst Ron Jaworski said. "I think guys who've been playing arena football or been in UFL camp or in the CFL are going to be more acclimated to the rigors of playing professional football."

Morgan had left the Soul last week to join the Virginia franchise, of the outdoor UFL, but that league delayed the start of its season as it tries to sort out its financial house. So Morgan came back to the Soul in time for last night's season finale.

Instead, he's heading back to his Bible.

"Prayers," said Morgan, who suffered a devastating broken left elbow in 2006. "God brought me through a lot. This is just a high-ankle sprain and hopefully with prayers and my faith, I get better quicker than what they're saying and get back to the game I love."

There is a good chance that last night was the final game of defensive back Mike Brown's career. Brown, a fan favorite who had an excellent 2011 season, could be a casualty of the AFL's poor player-pay structure. Like most players in the league, he gets $400 per game, before taxes.

"The money is so low, and I have a family now," said Brown, whose wife and 2-year-old son live in Las Vegas.

Brown said the chance that last night was his swan song was about 90 percent. He left the game in the second quarter with a stress fracture in his left leg.

"I would love to come back," he said. "I love the city of Philadelphia, the fans, the organization is the best I've ever been around, but the reality is the money is so [low]. But you never know."

The loss brought the Soul's final record to 6-12 . . . Wide receiver Mike Washington (5-8, 175) tortured the Soul with 11 catches, 155 yards and four touchdowns . . . Soul quarterback Ryan Vena was 19-for-34 for 267 yards and three touchdowns, with an interception and lost fumble . . . Ron Jaworski and Mike Hohensee each said the No. 1 priority in the offseason was finding a top-flight quarterback. Vena played his heart out, but was bedeviled by too many turnovers. Jaworski also wants to beef up the offensive line, which didn't help Vena too much last night.