2015 Cotton Bowl: MSU Monday Practice
Michigan State quarterback Tyler O'Connor (7) throws a pass during their 2015 Cotton Bowl practice at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Monday, December 29, 2014.
(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)
EAST LANSING -- When Tyler O'Connor settled into a set of bleachers to watch a football game this summer, the competition looked a bit different than the ones he partakes in on fall Saturdays.
"It's a circle field with four uprights on the end of the fields," O'Connor, a Michigan State junior quarterback, said. "You kick the ball to each other and then you punch the ball to each other. It's a different style of game. It was really cool."
O'Connor was describing Australian Rules Football. And to see it, he went about as far away from Spartan Stadium as humanly possible.
O'Connor and three of his teammates spent two and a half weeks in Sydney, Australia this summer as part of the school's International Summer Sports Program.
Signing up for college football typically means signing away any chance to partake in the study abroad programs enjoyed by non-athlete students. The sport has become a year-round endeavor, with winter conditioning, spring football and summer conditioning.
But for the first time this summer, Michigan State was able to incorporate football players into its program, and give them an opportunity they didn't expect to have when they first came to East Lansing.
"To be able to have that opportunity is huge," offensive lineman Jack Conklin said. "There isn't another football program in the country that has done that. It was awesome. I never thought I was going to be able to do a study abroad."
O'Connor, Conklin, and tight ends Josiah Price and Paul Lang were invited to partake in the program, which was part of a political science class that compared Australian government to American government.
That meant going to Australia in late June and early July, where they toured the Sydney Opera house, went to the summit of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, met rugby players, saw animals in the outback and more.
And on the same day they saw some kangaroos in person, they tasted them as a delicacy that night.
"It was really good," O'Connor said. "They told us in the beginning that it's good for us. There's no fat, so they cook it very rare."
Conklin said the trip was scheduled so the four only had to miss three workouts, and they had access to a workout facility on site.
The sojourn may have been brief compared to the semester-long trips enjoyed by classmates. But the trip, they said, provided benefits for themselves and the program.
"In the long run it helps Coach D with recruiting," Conklin said. "If you come to Michigan State, you're going to study abroad."
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