Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an American former 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 played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college athletics, college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 21 (9 men's, 12 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and com ...

Early life

Morgan was born on April 17, 1999. He originally attended Hazard High School in

Hazard, Kentucky Hazard is a home rule-class city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,263 at the 2020 census. History Local landowner Elijah Combs Sr. laid out the town in 1824 as the planned seat of the ...

, before transferring to

Ryle High School Larry A. Ryle High School is a public secondary school located in Union, Kentucky. The school's mascot is the Raiders. History Founded in 1992, it is one of four high schools ( Boone County, Conner, Ryle, and Cooper) in the Boone County Scho ...

Union, Kentucky Union is a List of cities in Kentucky, home-rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, Boone County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 7,416 . The area was rural until residential growth in the 1990s and 2000s. Union is located south ...

prior to his junior year. As a senior, he passed 2,747 yards and 27

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He originally committed to

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

to play college football for head coach P. J. Fleck but recommitted to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

after Fleck joined the school in 2017.

College career

Morgan

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 ...

his first year at Minnesota in 2017. He entered 2018 as a backup to

Zack Annexstad Zack Annexstad (born April 16, 2000) is an American professional football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Illinois State Redbirds. Early life Annexstad grew up in Norseland, Minn ...

but took over as the starter for the final six games of the season. Overall he played in nine games, completing 89 of 152 passes for 1,401 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions. In 2019, Morgan set several school records including passing yards (3,253) and touchdowns (30). He also set a

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

record in a victory over

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donat ...

by completing 21 of 22 passes for a

completion percentage The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

of 95.5.

Statistics

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Morgan was selected by the

Michigan Panthers The Michigan Panthers were a professional American football team based in Metro Detroit. The Panthers competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member of the Western Conference and Central Division. The team played its home gam ...

with the eighth overall pick in the 2023 USFL draft, but he chose not to join the Panthers, hoping to be selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

instead. He was not selected, but signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

as an

undrafted 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 ...

immediately after the draft's conclusion. He was waived on August 28, 2023.

Minnesota Vikings

On October 5, 2023, Morgan was signed to the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

practice squad, but was released five days later. He was re-signed to the practice squad once again on November 8, 2023, and released two days later.

Coaching career

On September 18, 2023, Morgan returned to the

as an offensive analyst on P. J. Fleck's staff following his release from the Steelers. He would vacate the role in October after signing a contract with the

Personal life

Morgan is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. His father, Ted, died from a brain tumor in July 2021.

References

External links

Minnesota Golden Gophers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Tanner 1999 births Living people American football quarterbacks Hazard High School alumni Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Minnesota Vikings players People from Boone County, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky Ryle High School alumni