Michael O'Connor (Canadian football)

Michael O'Connor (born February 25, 1996) is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played U Sports football with the UBC Thunderbirds from 2015 to 2018 where he led the team to a Vanier Cup championship in 2015.

Michael O'Connor
No. 13     Toronto Argonauts
O'Connor before an Argonauts game in 2019
Born: (1996-02-25) February 25, 1996
Orleans, Ontario
Career information
StatusActive
CFL statusNational
Position(s)QB
Height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight230 lb (100 kg)
CollegePenn State
UniversityUBC
High schoolAshbury College
Baylor School
IMG Academy
CFL draft2019 / Round: 3 / Pick: 20
Drafted byToronto Argonauts
Career history
As player
2019–presentToronto Argonauts
Career highlights and awards
Career stats

University career

Penn State

O'Connor received several scholarship offers to play football and was named ESPN's sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class.[1] He ultimately chose Pennsylvania State University to play for then-head coach, Bill O'Brien, and the Nittany Lions.[2] O'Brien had resigned to accept a position as the Houston Texans' head coach, but O'Connor elected to continue with his decision to enroll at Penn State anyway. He redshirted during his first season there behind the incumbent starter, Christian Hackenberg.[1][2] Near the end of the 2014 season, O'Connor announced his intention to transfer schools.[1]

UBC

On February 12, 2015, it was formally announced that O'Connor had committed to play for Blake Nill and the UBC Thunderbirds.[3][4] As a freshman starter, he had immediate success, starting in all eight games, posting 165 completions on 276 pass attempts for 2383 yards, 13 touchdowns, and five interceptions to lead UBC to a 6-2 regular season record.[5] He led the team to a perfect 4-0 record in the post-season, including UBC's 51st Vanier Cup championship win where he was named the game's most valuable player.[6]

The Thunderbirds qualified for the playoffs in each of the four seasons that O'Connor was the team's starting quarterback. He finished his collegiate career having played in 32 regular season games, completing 773 passes out of 1197 attempts for 9990 yards, 61 touchdowns, and 22 interceptions.[7]

Professional career

Attracting the attention of professional leagues, O'Connor was ranked as the 17th best prospect in the Canadian Football League's Central Scouting Bureau Final Rankings.[8] Consequently, he was drafted in the third round, 20th overall, in the 2019 CFL Draft by the Toronto Argonauts and signed with the team on May 17, 2019.[9] He began the 2019 season on the Argonauts' injured list, but dressed in his first professional game on July 6, 2019 against the BC Lions.[10] With Argonauts eliminated from the playoffs, O'Connor took his first regular season snaps under centre on October 26, 2019 against his hometown Ottawa Redblacks.[11] In that game, he threw his first career touchdown pass; an 11-yard completion to Rodney Smith.[11] Smith had thrown the ball into the stands, but the fan who retrieved it threw the keepsake back to Argos staff members.[12] O'Connor dressed for 9 games his rookie season, and saw snaps in two. He completed 15 passes out of 25 attempts for 173 yards and a touchdown.

Personal life

O'Connor was born to Debbie and John O'Connor and he grew up in Ottawa.[2] He was named after his dad's uncle who died in a vehicle collision two months before he was born.[13]

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References
  1. "QB Michael O'Connor to transfer". espn.com. December 11, 2014.
  2. "Canadian-born QB Michael O'Connor settling into Penn State, still forging his own path". pennlive.com. February 4, 2014.
  3. "Former Penn State quarterback Michael O'Connor commits to UBC". canadawest.org. February 12, 2015.
  4. "Ottawa quarterback Michael O'Connor picks UBC after leaving Penn State". ottawacitizen.com. February 16, 2015.
  5. "Michael O'Connor #15 QB UBC". usports.ca. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  6. "UBC Thunderbirds beat Montreal to win Vanier Cup". sportsnet.ca. November 28, 2015.
  7. "Michael O'Connor". usports.ca. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  8. Wilkinson, Desjarlais climb final CFL Scouting Bureau rankings, Canadian Football League, April 12, 2019, retrieved October 16, 2019
  9. "Argos sign two from Draft Class; Two LFA Players". May 17, 2019.
  10. "October 11, 2019 - 7:00 pm ET Ottawa at Toronto Game Notes" (PDF). cfl.ca. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
  11. Wilkinson, Desjarlais climb final CFL Scouting Bureau rankings Argos get major contributions from their young quarterbacks, Canadian Football League, October 27, 2019, retrieved October 27, 2019
  12. Michael O'Connor throws 1st CFL TD pass, Argos route Redblacks, cbc.ca, October 27, 2019, retrieved October 27, 2019
  13. "Rookie Canadian QB O'Connor poised to take first snap in CFL". nationalpost.com. October 15, 2019.
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