Tanner Morgan (born April 17, 1999) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Early life and high school career

Morgan was born on April 17, 1999. He originally attended

Hazard High School Hazard High School is a Public school (government funded), public high school in Hazard, Kentucky, Hazard, Kentucky. The school serves about 300 students in grades 9-12 in the Hazard Independent Schools. History Hazard High School's boys' basketb ...

Hazard, Kentucky Hazard is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in, and the county seat of, Perry County, Kentucky, Perry County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 5,263 at the 2020 Census. History Local landowner Elijah Combs, Elijah Comb ...

, before transferring to

Ryle High School Larry A. Ryle High School is a public secondary school located in Union, Kentucky, USA. 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 ...

Union, Kentucky is a home rule-class city in 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 southwest of Cincinnati, Ohio. Geography Union is located at ...

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. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He originally committed to

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

to play college football for head coach

P. J. Fleck Philip John Fleck Jr. (born November 29, 1980) is an American football coach and former wide receiver. He has served as the head coach for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team since 2017. Born in Sugar Grove, Illinois, Fleck played colle ...

but recommitted to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

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 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) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

record in a victory over

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

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

Morgan was selected by the

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

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 will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

instead. He was not selected, but signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

immediately after the draft’s conclusion.

Personal life

Morgan is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. 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 People from Boone County, Kentucky Players of American football from Kentucky Ryle High School alumni