Michael O'Connor (born February 25, 1996) is a Canadian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He has played for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

, and

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played

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with the

UBC Thunderbirds The UBC Thunderbirds are the athletic teams that represent the University of British Columbia. In Canadian intercollegiate competition, the Thunderbirds are the most successful athletic program both regionally in the Canada West Universities Athl ...

from 2015 to 2018 where he led the team to a

Vanier Cup The Vanier Cup () is the trophy awarded annually to the champion Canadian football team in U Sports, the governing body for university sports in Canada. The U Sports football champion is determined in a one-game playoff (the Vanier Cup game), pl ...

championship in

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College career

Penn State

O'Connor received several scholarship offers to play

and was named

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's sixth-ranked quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class. The 4-star recruit ultimately chose

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

to play for then-

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

, Bill O'Brien, and the

Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

. O'Brien had resigned to accept a position as the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

' head coach, but O'Connor elected to continue with his decision to enroll at Penn State anyway. He

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his first season there behind the incumbent starter,

Christian Hackenberg Christian Blaize Hackenberg (born February 14, 1995) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, and was selected b ...

. Near the end of the 2014 season, O'Connor announced his intention to transfer schools.

UBC

On February 12, 2015, it was formally announced that O'Connor had committed to play for

Blake Nill Blake Nill (born February 16, 1962) is a former Canadian football defensive lineman and the current head coach for the University of British Columbia's football team, the UBC Thunderbirds. He is a three-time Vanier Cup champion as a head coach an ...

and the

. 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. He led the team to a perfect 4–0 record in the post-season, including UBC's

51st Vanier Cup The 2015 Vanier Cup, the 51st edition of the Canadian university football championship, took place on Saturday, November 28, 2015 at Telus Stadium in Quebec City, Quebec. It was the fourth time that the city of Quebec has hosted the Vanier Cup. ...

championship win where he was named the game's most valuable player.

Collegiate statistics

Professional career

Toronto Argonauts

Attracting the attention of professional leagues, O'Connor was ranked as the 17th best prospect in the

's Central Scouting Bureau Final Rankings. Consequently, he was drafted in the third round, 20th overall, in the 2019 CFL Draft by the

and signed with the team on May 17, 2019. He began the

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

on the Argonauts' injured list, but dressed in his first professional game on July 6, 2019, against the

. 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 The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

. In that game, he threw his first career touchdown pass; an 11-yard completion to Rodney Smith. Smith had thrown the ball into the stands, but the fan who retrieved it threw the keepsake back to Argos staff members. O'Connor dressed for nine games his rookie season, and saw snaps in two. He completed 15 passes out of 25 attempts for 173 yards and a touchdown. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

2020 CFL season The 2020 CFL season would have been the 67th season of modern-day Canadian football. Officially, it would have been the 63rd season of the Canadian Football League. It was originally scheduled to begin on June 11; on April 7, the start of the ...

and he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2021 following the completion of his rookie contract.

Calgary Stampeders

On the first day of free agency in 2021, O'Connor signed with the

on February 9, 2021. He initially began the year as the backup quarterback, but was relegated to the third-string position following strong performances by Jake Maier. O'Connor dressed in six regular season games but did not attempt a pass as he ran the short-yardage team where he had four rush attempts for five yards. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 8, 2022.

BC Lions

On the first day of free agency, on February 8, 2022, O'Connor signed with the

. He began the season as the backup quarterback to fellow Canadian quarterback Nathan Rourke. When Rourke suffered a significant foot injury in Week 11 O'Connor was named the starting quarterback the following week. Unfortunately, he suffered a groin injury in the second quarter and was ruled out for the remainder of the game. He sat out one game due to injury, but did not see any playing time upon his return to the lineup following the team's acquisition of

Vernon Adams Vernon Anthony Adams Jr. (born January 3, 1993) is an American professional Canadian football, football quarterback for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football for the Eastern Washington Eagles fo ...

. He became a free agent upon the expiry of his contract on February 14, 2023.

Professional statistics

Personal life

O'Connor was born to Debbie Lavigne and John O'Connor and he grew up in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. He was named after his uncle who died in a vehicle collision two months before he was born.

Awards and honours

*2016

Male Athlete of the Year Co-winner

References

External links

BC Lions bio

UBC Thunderbirds bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Michael 1996 births Living people Baylor School alumni BC Lions players Calgary Stampeders players Canadian football quarterbacks IMG Academy alumni Penn State Nittany Lions football players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Canadian football people from Ottawa Toronto Argonauts players UBC Thunderbirds football players Ashbury College alumni