After finding success in Germany, Ashland's Connor Kaegi is ready to lead the Oregon Blackbears
After finding success in Germany, Ashland's Connor Kaegi is ready to lead the Oregon Blackbears
Connor Kaegi never saw himself playing indoors again. Then Salem got an AFL team.
SALEM — Connor Kaegi didn’t exactly set out to end up back playing indoor football.
The quarterback from Ashland had just finished his first season playing in Germany for the Berlin Rebels and was scrolling back at his offseason home in Florida when he had the same curiosity a lot of us did when Arena League Football announced the Oregon Blackbears as its newest franchise last fall.
“I played arena a few years ago and, honestly, I never wanted to play arena again,” Kaegi said.
To be clear, it’s not that Kaegi thinks he’s better than Arena League — just at 6-foot-7, he admits he’s built “to be an outdoor quarterback.” But after coming off a stint in Europe that reinforced his belief in his skills and love for the game, Kaegi figured there was no harm in reaching out. Salem is only three hours from his family in Southern Oregon — plus, they’re all Oregon Duck fans who might find it cool that the team is owned by former Duck Kayvon Thibodeaux.
So Kaegi found Blackbears coach Chuck Jones on Instagram, introduced himself and offered to send in some film.
“I didn’t hear anything for like a week,” Kaegi said. “Then I get a reply. He said it was great to hear from me, he was very interested and that I should send some film over.”
Kaegi did. Then he found himself on the phone with Jones, who saw everything he needed to bring the quarterback home to the West Coast.
“Dude, we want you,” Kaegi recalled the conversation. “And I’m like, ‘What do you mean you want me? You just saw my film. You’re not going to think about it?’ But he said he saw talent in me right away, and being an Oregon team with an Oregon quarterback, that’s something that Oregon thrives on. They love home-state stories.”
The AFL returns this season after a four-year hiatus due to bankruptcy. The Blackbears, who will play at the Oregon State Fair and Exposition Center, are one of 16 teams in this latest iteration of the league, with the season officially kicking off on April 27 in Salem against the Washington Wolfpack team from Everett. Kaegi spoke with The I-5 Corridor after a relatively lively team scrimmage, where Kaegi said the competitive juices of this newly put-together roster are beginning to show.
And it’s because of that year in Germany that Kaegi couldn’t be more excited to start.
See, Kaegi’s career is running on the extended-release method. He graduated from Ashland in 2013, took a two-year LDS mission in Kentucky, played a year of JUCO ball at Western Arizona, transferred to Montana, transferred to Arizona Western and, finally, transferred to Ottawa University in Kansas where he tore apart the NAIA. In two seasons, Kaegi amassed 4,595 passing yards, 62 total touchdowns and only 16 interceptions.
And then COVID ensured the little chance of a small-school QB getting any exposure leading up to the NFL Draft remained minimal. They had a virtual pro day, then Kaegi spent the next three years bouncing around from The Spring League to the National Arena League before he finally took a chance on heading overseas to give the sport one last shot. In Berlin, Kaegi threw for 2,126 yards in 11 games with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
“You have to learn to love where you are in be in the moment. That’s what going out to Germany taught me,” Kaegi said. “When I say I found the love for the game again, it was exactly that. I was known as one of the best quarterbacks in Germany, and to feel that, and to lead my team, and to then come home and have everyone be so interested in it. Man how was Germany? How cool was that? It really made me feel good about myself.
“I do wish and I do train for those UFL and NFL opportunities, but at the same time, you’ve got to learn to understand where you are in the moment and be blessed and grateful for what I’ve been given and what I have. I can’t imagine how many people would kill to be in my position.”
Kaegi signed a one-year deal with the Blackbears, then packed up his car in Florida and set out for a cross-country drive. He said there was nothing in Kansas, a lot of snow in Idaho and, frankly, he had no idea how beautiful Eastern Oregon could be.
“It almost looked like a little Switzerland,” Kaegi said.
Several weeks into training camp, Kaegi said the team is coming together. He doesn’t expect everything to be running like a well-established organization quite yet, but with two weeks to go until kickoff, Kaegi’s not only been impressed, he’s, again, having some fun.
“I didn’t have high expectations because I’ve never walked into a brand new organization,” he said. “It’s surprisingly better than I’ve expected it to be. They feed us twice a day, every day, which is nice and make sure we have everything we need. They’re doing the best they can and the most they can for us. It’s been a good experience so far.”
Kaegi envisions a successful season here in Oregon that may open up some options for him down the road. He still has dreams of playing in bigger leagues — and shoot, with the way this season’s schedule works, he said he might be able to make it back to Berlin for the second half of the European season.
“I’ve realized that I do love football,” Kaegi said, “and I want to keep playing for as long as I possibly can.”
— Tyson Alger, The I-5 Corridor
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