WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) — From a walk-on to the NFL. Aidan O’Connell’s story has been one for the books. A Rookie this year with the Las Vegas Raiders, O’Connell was ready to play any role the team gave him.
Heading into week four of the season, it was business as usual as the Raiders prepared to take on the Los Angeles Charges. However, midway through the week, plans changed. And suddenly O’Connell found himself being named the starting quarterback.
O’Connell said it was a crazy week having to change his mindset from a supporting role to that of someone leading a team. However, it’s an experience he was grateful to have so early on.
Aidan O’Connell reflects on 2023-24 season
He said, “Those game reps are priceless and to be able to go out and get that experience was awesome. Obviously, it sucked that it turned out the way it did, but I think a lot of times you learn more from failure.”
Learning from failure and on the fly is exactly what O’Connell did.
After reverting to his original role for the next several weeks, O’Connell found himself being named the starter once again in week nine of the season.
From then on, it was the AOC Show.
O’Connell started in the last nine games where he threw for more than 1900 yards with 11 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
O’Connell told us he couldn’t have had the year he did without his teammates helping instill confidence in him. However, he also credits his alma mater for making sure he was adequately prepared to head to a new environment.
O’Connell said, “The offense I played at Purdue definitely helped me. There was a lot of detail to it and a lot of different things that we ran at Purdue. And obviously, there were a lot of new things and new responsibilities that I had. But I definitely think playing in the offense like I did in college helped me get to this point.”
After experiencing such a wild year, O’Connell said he’s going to enjoy as much of the offseason as possible and not think too far ahead to next season.
O’Connell said, “I hoped I’d be in this position. I never thought I would, so I’m trying to keep in mind that. And At this point for me, I’m kind of playing with house money. I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place and so I get to just kind of enjoy all the extra things I get to do at this point.”
