Dolphins punter Thomas Morstead spends a homeless night to learn and help the needy

MIAMI GARDENS — Out on the streets of New Orleans, not far from the French Quarter on a near-frigid night, lay a man making a seven-figure salary as an NFL player. He had a cardboard box, a sleeping bag, a tiny section of the sidewalk.

And resolve, which he would need.

It was only a few days prior that punter Thomas Morstead had listened as his coach warned of the dangers of a night on the town.

This wasn’t the kind of night the coach had in mind. Just as this isn’t the kind of life anyone has in mind.

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By Monday afternoon, Morstead was back in familiar, cozier surroundings, sitting at his stall in the Dolphins’ locker room and sharing what he took away from a night he won’t forget. And a night he hopes his family doesn’t forget. Not only did his wife, Lauren, join him, but so did sons Maxwell, 8, and Beckett, 7.

This was something Thomas began planning when the Dolphins’ schedule came out and the bye week coincided with an annual sleep out put on by the Covenant House of New Orleans, where homelessness plagues the region. Volunteers spent a night as a homeless person would — “voluntary suffering,” Morstead called it — with two exceptions. They had police protection. And they could return to their homes in the morning.

Although the event was a fundraiser and the Morsteads wrote a five-figure check for the non-privileges, Thomas figures what he and his family came away with made them richer.

“It was just what we hoped it would be,” Morstead said.

It was all it could be under the controlled circumstances.

“I don’t think I truly can appreciate it because I didn’t feel unsafe out there,” he said. “And you know, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. You’re just there for a night. A lot of people that are out there, they don’t know when they’re not going to be out there.

“So yeah, we certainly gained a little perspective, but it’s hard to. I don’t think it’s possible unless I took all my money that I’ve saved in 14 years, put it on black at the casino and it turns red and we have nothing. We’ve got nowhere to be and I don’t have a job.”

Morsteads use the night as a teaching moment for sons

Morstead, 36, is in his first season with the Dolphins, joining them after 12 seasons as the Saints’ punter, which is why the rest of his family remains in New Orleans. He flies back to visit as often as possible and was grateful to use the night on the streets as a learning experience for Maxwell and Beckett, who peppered their parents with questions.

“My kids are going to be privileged,” he said. “They have two parents that love them, that are supporting them. They go to a great school with a lot of diversity and a lot of different ways. And I think privilege is not evil. Privileged without perspective or without gratitude, that’s what’s tough.”

Maxwell and Beckett assumed they were getting Friday off from school, but that too was part of Thomas’ and Lauren’s lesson to them.

Thomas: “I said, ‘You know, we’re going to go to breakfast before we take you to school. But some kids, they don’t get breakfast. The meals they get are at school. And maybe they get something when they get home. You don’t know who some of those kids are, but that’s the reality for some people.’ ”

Following a briefing by the organizers, approximately 70 volunteers set up their home for the night. The Morsteads had two double sleeping bags, so Thomas took Maxwell and Lauren took Beckett.

Maxwell’s cough wasn’t all that had Thomas tossing and turning. He’s used to sleeping on his stomach.

“If you have a little padding, you can kind of finagle that,” he said. “But not on a sidewalk.”

‘I'd love to jump in my car and get home'

He figures he slept a total of 4½ hours even though the family turned in around 9 p.m. and didn’t leave until 5 a.m.

“You wake up at 1 in the morning and you’re thinking, ‘Man, I’d love to just go jump in my car and get home and go get in my bed,’ ” Thomas said.

The Dolphins entered the bye week coming off a victory over Cleveland. It was so dominant that Morstead didn’t punt once. During the game, a photographer shot Morstead casually lounging on the bench. It was in the middle of a game, yet he looked more carefree, more comfortable than he could ever be that night in New Orleans.

“I certainly was,” he said. “It was warmer.”

The temperature fell to 39 degrees in New Orleans. What warmed Thomas was learning that the Covenant House estimated $600,000 in donations poured in from the event, including a five-figure check from the Morsteads and contributions from both Saints and Dolphins fans, who can still contribute.

“It’s for the New Orleans organization, so it was cool to watch Dolphins fans chip in,” he said.

On his website seeking contributions, Morstead writes, “As a team, we rise and fall together. As a community, we rise and fall together.” The site was set up with a goal of $10,000. As of Monday evening, $23,495 had been raised.

This isn’t the first example of homelessness and Dolphins players crossing paths. Defensive end William Hayes (2017-18) was homeless along with Chris Long for a night when they were teammates on the St. Louis Rams. Like the Morsteads, they used it as both a learning experience and a fundraiser. Other players lived through the hardship for real, including running back Knowshon Moreno (2014) and receiver Brian Tyms, a training camp hopeful in 2013.

Linebacker Jaelan Phillips won the Dolphins’ Nat Moore Community Service Award as a rookie last season for involvement that includes The Lotus House for homeless women and children in Miami.

Morstead, a longtime supporter of the Covenant House, said there are misconceptions about the homeless.

“People aren’t just on the street because they’re lazy, right?” Morstead said. “They’ve had things happen to them in life that have derailed where they’re at. I think sometimes that’s the disconnect as people think of people that are in that situation and put themselves there. And maybe some have, but I don’t think anybody intends to end up in some of those scenarios, right? It’s just life takes you and you make maybe a wrong turn and then there’s another wrong turn and all of a sudden, that’s kind of rolling downhill and you can’t stop.”

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This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins punter spends a night living on streets in New Orleans