John Morris soaking up the hometown curling experience in what might be his last Brier

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — John Morris just had a quick chat with the youngest guy in the field here at the Brier, 15-year-old Nicholas Codner, the bright-eyed alternate for Newfoundland who made history as the youngest-ever participant (while age has been recorded) to throw a rock at Canada’s national men’s curling championship.

And as excited as Codner is to be here — watch his eyes dart around as he takes in the action, watch him awestruck as he sees legends such as Morris and Kevin Koe in the flesh — Morris is feeling a whole lot of excitement himself. In fact, talking to Morris, you might mistake him for a young Brier rookie, not a guy here for the 12^th time.

“I feel wonderful,” said the 43-year-old Morris, whose Team Koe has dropped just one game in the round-robin, and look good to crack the weekend’s playoff round. “I feel thankful to be curling in front of a hometown crowd, the Brier patch is open, everything feels great.”

Morris, a three-time winner here, and silver medallists a year ago alongside Team Koe, is making sure to enjoy every little thing this week. The two-time Olympic champion returned home from his third Winter Games last month, after he and Rachel Homan fell short of the playoffs in mixed doubles. After that experience — locked down, in front of no fans, with heavy expectations on his and Homan’s shoulders — Morris is thankful to be here and playing in front of often packed and boisterous crowds. That’s in part because he doesn’t know how many Briers are in his future.

“I’m having a lot of fun and I’m really soaking everything in this week,” said Morris, Team Alberta’s second and vice-skip. “I’m not sure if this is my last one of how many more of these I’m going to have, so just to be able to play a home province Brier is pretty special. It’s been great here in Lethbridge, there’s some great fans here and lots of friends and family coming to games.

“From what we went through, the last two years, having a bubble and no fans, I’m just really grateful and I’m trying not to take it for granted.”

Morris has a three-year-old son, Jack, and a two-year-old daughter, Zoe. Being away from the kids and his wife, Maggie, has been especially difficult for Morris, who is a firefighter. If he steps away from the men’s game, it’ll be because he wants to spend more time with his family. Ben Hebert, Team Koe’s lead, has already indicated the Calgary-based foursome will be breaking up at the end of this season.

“I’m definitely leaning towards just playing mixed doubles,” Morris said, of next season. “I’ve got a young family and I love spending time with them, and I want to help raise them and be a big part of their life. That’s my biggest priority, and I’ve had a great men’s career, I’ve played with some wonderful people, and I think it’s close to my time to shut ‘er down for men’s. I still love curling and I still want to play a little bit of mixed doubles, but I think I can do that and still be able to be a good dad.”

Pat Simmons won the 2015 Brier with Morris, and they switched positions mid-bonspiel — Morris began as the skip, and then Simmons took over. “It was an unorthodox situation and lots going on that week and to pull it off was fantastic,” Simmons said. “It was a memorable week, for sure.”

Simmons is here as Team Saskatchewan’s alternate, after being away from the game for four years, but he was pulled back in when he got a phone call out of the blue from skip Colton Flasch.

“You never know,” Simmons said, of Morris’ future in the game. “Hey, he’s one of the best ever, and has won everything. If this is it, we’ll certainly miss his presence and his shot-making and personality. Everything, right? But, you know, there comes a time for everyone.”

Morris said he doesn’t know who he’ll partner up with in mixed doubles next season, and he hasn’t chatted about the prospect with Homan, because they both got home from Beijing and immediately focused on spending time with their families. “It’s something we haven’t discussed — it’s still pretty fresh, and my focus is here, where I want it to be,” Morris said.

He called the Beijing Olympics “difficult” and “definitely not my favourite,” being away from his family for five weeks, and coming home empty-handed. Homan posted a vulnerable message on social media describing the tough time she had after her second Olympics, millimetres away from cracking the playoffs.

“We talked a little bit a week or so after (the Games), and I know Rachel got lots of support from a lot of people, and I think that was really helpful,” Morris said. “It definitely let her know she’s not alone in this, and a lot of people had the exact same thoughts. I think it was good of her, showing her vulnerability. I think that’s something you need to do, because if you bottle everything in, you keep things in and don’t look for support, I think that can really build up and have a detrimental effect.

“There were challenges at these Olympics for sure and it’s understandable that it could lead to some dark places.”

Morris, though, is now in a very thankful place, enjoying everything about the experience here in Lethbridge.

“The boys are playing really well, Koo-dog’s shooting like a beast out there,” he said. “I couldn’t actually feel better right now. I feel awesome.”