Mr. Morten Orren, or “Mort” as everyone affectionately calls him, is the secret weapon behind Liberty athletics.

From ankle sprains to hip flexor injuries, our Athletic Trainer has seen it all.

Whether you need to get an injury bandaged after a disastrous football game (there was a line out the door after the Bellevue one), wait around for a COVID-19 test result or undergo yet another concussion evaluation, Mort is there with a friendly smile and roll of tape in his hand. As he proceeds to unroll that tape, he does more than just wrap up our injuries—he’s there to listen to us and ask us how our day went.

Mort delivers disappointing evaluations with a word of encouragement and a pat on the shoulder to come back again the next day. Despite the odor and somewhat repellant nature of Liberty athletes’ feet, Mort wraps our ankles and tapes our arches without a fuss. He promises to never judge broken toenails, no matter how disgusting they are. 

By day he’s a teacher, leading the Sports Med program and instructing sophomore health classes with enthusiasm and trivia games. By night, he’s a superhero: every Friday football game in the pouring rain, he’s out there with the team, making sure all players are safe. 

More than the care and expertise he brings to the Liberty athletics program, Mort shows unprecedented patience and compassion to both athletes and students – he cares about us. 

He sacrifices his time, energy, and sense of smell to deal with injuries big and small, feet smelly and smellier. 

So, next time you stop by the Sports Med room or see Mort lugging a cooler off to the next athletics event he’s working at, make sure to say hi and thank him for the on-and-off-field work he does to keep our athletes safe and competing.