Alder graduate Connor Morgan (Class of 2020) plays football for Cornell University. As part of a series with Alder graduates who have continued their sports career up until today, I asked Morgan about his football career. Morgan is glad he decided to continue his football career in college, and playing for Cornell has given him some of his best friends. 

Q: You play football at Cornell University, right?

A: Yep. 

Q: How many years have you played for them?

A: I’m a junior right now, but with COVID only two years. 

Q: What made you want to continue playing football in college?

A: I would say the biggest thing is your teammates. They’re definitely the people I’m closest to on campus. If I didn’t have them, I probably wouldn’t have anyone to hang out with and all of that. 

Q: How does playing football in college affect your college experience?

A: It makes it a lot busier. Your days are pretty regimented, and you have to get up a lot earlier. We’re usually up at like 6 a.m. for practice and workouts, and then we have class all day. We also have meetings in the afternoons. So it just makes it a lot busier, but it’s definitely a lot more fun. I couldn’t imagine not doing it because it’s pretty much where you meet your best friends. 

Q: How does high school football compare to college football?

A: It is extremely different. In high school, I played both ways and most of the special teams, and in college, I only play defense and a couple of special teams. Practices are a lot more competitive and harder, and the off-season training is a lot different, too. It’s definitely a much larger commitment than it was in high school. 

Q: What would you say to anyone that’s kind of on the fence about playing sports in college?

A: I would say go do it. I mean, for me, it’s definitely been the best experience I’ve ever had. And like I said, you’re going to meet all kinds of different people, people you never would’ve had the opportunity to meet before, and most of them are going to be your best friends. 

Q: What’s your favorite memory of football in college so far?

A: That’s a good one. I would probably say my sophomore year, so last year we played UPenn. We play UPenn for a trophy every year, and we beat them. I think the score was something like 12 to 3. So that was just a super fun game because it’s a pretty big rivalry. 

Q: On a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, how would you rate your college sports experience so far?

A: I’ll give it an eight just because there are some pretty rough and long days.