HIGH ACHIEVERS: Michael O’Connor’s gridiron journey now includes flag football, maybe an Olympics in 2028

By Martin Cleary

At six feet, five inches, Michael O’Connor has seen and played the game of football at so many different levels as a quarterback.

He has experienced touch football with his buddies, Air Raid 7-on-7 as a teenager, high school tackle football in two different countries, the university version north and south of the 49th Parallel and professionally for four seasons in the CFL.

After he thought he had put his competitive career behind him three years ago, he got a phone call from Paul LaPolice. The longtime CFL coach didn’t want him to sharpen his play-calling skills for a CFL return, but rather to be his quarterback on the Canadian men’s flag football team.

In May, Football Canada announced LaPolice, a former head coach with the Ottawa Redblacks (2020-22) in his more than 20-year coaching career, had been appointed head coach of the national men’s flag football team.

Flag football is preparing to make its debut at the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles and LaPolice was starting to build a team worthy of chasing gold, silver or bronze medals.

“I got a call from coach LaPolice two months ago. He had taken over as head coach of the Canadian men’s flag football team and was making a push for the Olympics in 2028,” O’Connor, a former Ashbury College Colts’ quarterback who now lives in Vancouver, said in a phone interview this week.

“I figured it would be a great opportunity to play the game I love and represent the country on a national stage. It would be cool to finish my playing career. What a great opportunity.”

While O’Connor and LaPolice are still learning the finer points of flag football, which is played on a field that’s 25 yards wide and 50 yards long plus two 10-yard end zones, the Canadian team has scored some early success and qualified for the 2026 world championships.

At last week’s International Federation of American Football flag football continental championships in Penonome, Panama, Canada won four of five games and earned the bronze medal, after only two days of team practices.

O’Connor tossed five touchdown passes to four receivers as Canada outscored Panama 32-22 in the third-place game. By finishing in the top five, Canada also qualified for the 2026 world flag football championships in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Canada reached the bronze-medal game by defeating Guatemala 34-6, Brazil 32-13 and Colombia 44-14 before losing to the United States 54-26 in its preliminary pool.

Three months earlier, Canada strung together four straight victories, including a 25-21 upset win over the United States to win the International Bowl in Los Angeles.

Flag football features five players on offence against another five on defence, playing two 20-minute halves. A defensive rusher pursues the quarterback once the ball is snapped, which leads to backfield pressure, snap decisions and a demand for accuracy in the passing game.

“We beat the U.S. and that was a big deal in the flag football community,” O’Connor added about the International Bowl win. “It was the team’s first loss in seven years. They were working the kinks out of their offence. On defence, they had a couple of busts. And we played well.”

O’Connor noticed a different American team at the continental championships in Panama.

“They were more focused,” he said.

The United States is ranked No. 1 in the world and is expected to get stronger as the NFL has allowed its players to participate on the American team for the at-home Olympics. In March, the United States will send three teams of NFL players to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the Fanatics Flag Football Classic at Kingdom Arena.

The NFL rosters will likely include seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, and active players Saquon Barkley of Philadelphia, Christian McCaffrey of San Francisco and Tyreek Hill of Miami.

O’Connor, who didn’t play a game in his one season with the Penn State Nittany Lions but had a strong career with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, is the only quarterback on the 12-man national team. Keyshawn Upshaw-Tynes, a product of the Ottawa Sooners junior program, is a defensive back on the national team.

“I went to the final round of tryouts in Montreal earlier in the spring. It was the first time I had played flag football. I wanted to see what it was all about. It went well,” he explained. “It’s still new, but I’m getting more confident.”

Since flag football has been accepted into the Olympic family, the national team men’s and women’s programs and the athletes will receive funding from the Canadian Olympic Committee and the federal government.

“The Olympic committee has generously helped to sponsor us for a one-week-long training camp for practices and team bonding,” O’Connor said. “That’s a big thing for us to get more practice time in December.

“The coach has talked about doing a tournament in Florida in February at a big flag football tournament with a lot of U.S.A. teams and other countries.”

O’Connor has noticed some big differences between flag and tackle football.

“With a 25-yard wide field, everything happens a lot quicker,” he said. “You have to be accurate (with passes) and get the ball out quickly. At the end of the day, it’s make the throw, make the catch, score a touchdown.”

If O’Connor sees the opposition in a zone defence, he’ll likely go underneath to try for a seven- or eight-yard gain. A man-to-man defence would allow him to try a longer-yardage play.

The Canadian team is comprised of players with NFL, CFL and university experience as well as athletes who have focused solely on the flag football game. Receiver Antony Auclair played six years with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a Super Bowl in 2021.

“It’s so much fun,” O’Connor added. “The guys are great. I’ve also met players from Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico and, if you told me they had strong football programs, I wouldn’t have believed you. It’s cool to see football become a global sport.”

Flag football is the newest addition to O’Connor’s gridiron portfolio. Besides coaching travelling Air Raid 7-on-7 youth teams and serving as a quarterback coach, he also is working his way through courses to become a firefighter.

“I have had a lot of great coaches in the past and it’s important for me to give back. It’s kind of a duty,” he insisted.

O’Connor hit the prospects radar when he was in Grade 10 at Ashbury College. He tossed 51 touchdown passes that season and led the Colts to its first Conference of Independent Schools of Ontario Athletic Association junior football title. Despite a fractured bone in his throwing hand, he made two touchdown passes in the final.

He completed his high school education and developed his football resume for university coaches and scouts at two prep schools – Baylor and IMG Academy.

His skills and leadership took him to Penn State in 2014, but being No. 3 on the depth chart meant he didn’t play a game in his only season as a Nittany Lion. In his first of four seasons with the University of British Columbia, he sparked the Thunderbirds to the 2015 Vanier Cup and was named the game’s MVP.

The CFL took notice of O’Connor in 2019 and the Toronto Argonauts drafted him in the third round and 20th overall. He played the 2019 and 2020 seasons with Toronto before moving to the Calgary Stampeders in 2021 and the British Columbia Lions in 2022.