They had only two chances to see him play last year but apparently that was enough to convince the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to spend a second-round pick on Queen's Golden Gaels defensive back Brendan Morgan in Tuesday night's Canadian Football league draft.
The Bombers chose Morgan with their third pick, one they'd acquired from Saskatchewan, which was the 15th selection overall. He was the second defensive back taken, after Laurier’s Chris Ackie was taken fourth overall by Montreal.
Morgan, from Pickering, transferred to Queen's in the fall of 2013 from the University of Virginia as a running back but he was converted to the defensive secondary early that season.
He played just two games in 2014 before it was discovered he was academically ineligible to do so. The Gaels forfeited a season-opening victory at Windsor as a result.
Though Morgan didn’t have a chance to impress on the field, no doubt the Bombers got some input about Morgan’s athleticism and pro potential from Winnipeg special teams co-ordinator Pat Tracey, who coached not only Morgan at Queen’s, but his boss, Bombers general manager Kyle Walters, at Guelph.
Morgan was the only Gael selected in this year's draft.
Morgan is the seventh member of Queen’s Yates Cup finalist of 2013 either to play in the CFL or be drafted or signed as a free agent by one of its teams. He joins Andrew Lue (Montreal), Scott Macdonell (Ottawa), Matt Webster (Saskatchewan) and Giovanni Aprile (Hamilton) who played in the league last year, Derek Wiggan (a 2013 draftee of Calgary) and Alex Carroll (signed this spring as a free agent by Saskatchewan).