Connor Neville says a quick prayer before every drive, asking for help each time he steps onto the field.
The former East Mississippi Community College quarterback has long placed an emphasis on religion, and it’s only gotten stronger through three eventful years playing college football.
Faith has carried Neville through a position switch, a string of personal losses, a pandemic and an uncertain recruiting process that he navigated alone.
The Oregon native played two seasons at Washington State, including a redshirt year, and never saw the field. He even transitioned from quarterback to safety last spring. Then he transferred to EMCC — heralded as “Last Chance U” for players looking for a final shot at playing Division I — for a 2019 Neville emerged with just two scholarship offers from FCS schools Mississippi Valley State and Morgan State.
As the months toward the season wound down and interest in Neville came and went, the signal caller turned to his faith for confidence.
“God was speaking to me, and he wanted me to stay patient throughout this process,” Neville said.
On Thursday, that patience paid off when FBS Northern Illinois called with a scholarship offer. Less than two days later, Neville committed to join the Huskies, finally feeling like he’s found a new home.
“That’s where I wanted to play,” Neville said, “because that’s where I’m wanted.”
The hard way
Neville remembers the first football camp he ever played in, back when he was 8 years old.
Partially, he said, because he “sucked”: Neville struggled so much that a coach kicked him out of a drill and out of the camp.
Then his uncle, Raul Lozano, took Neville’s hand, marched over to the coach and cursed him out.
“He’s gonna be better than all these kids one day,” Lozano proclaimed of his nephew.
It was a moment Neville still remembers almost 15 years later.
“That really went a long way with me, and it’s something that I’ll never forget,” he said.
And when Neville first received interest from Northern Illinois, he told Lozano, who had lived in Chicago after moving there from Mexico with Neville’s mother. It was the last good recruiting news Neville ever got to tell his uncle.
Lozano died this spring, right around the time when NIU suddenly cut off communication with Neville. His death was one of three losses that took a toll on the quarterback in a short span of time.
Neville’s former teammate at Washington State, Bryce Beekman — a nice guy who helped Neville make the switch to safety in the spring of 2019 — died of an accidental overdose this March. Neville also heard from a friend about the death of a boy he knew from his church homeschool group — the only person in the group who had ever been nice to Neville and his twin brother, Jonny.
Neville, who said he also lost several people close to him in 2019, had to learn “the hard way” to recover emotionally — while trying to handle it on his own.
“I don’t want to feel sorry for myself or anything because I don’t want anybody to feel that way toward me,” he said. “It’s a bit tough seeing the people that you love pass away like they have, but I’ve tried to find a way to overcome that.”
Getting to continue his football career helped. Neville was overjoyed when NIU reached out to him again and asked him to attend, and he hopes to play in honor of the man who was there from the beginning of his football career.
“Ultimately, I kind of want to do this for my uncle, too, because I really wish he could be here to watch me play,” Neville said.
Getting the ball rolling
On Thursday, when Neville officially got the offer from Northern Illinois coach Thomas Hammock, the quarterback cried when he got off the phone.
He’d earned a second shot to play at the highest level of collegiate competition in a sport he’d been devoted to since he started lifting weights with his father and brother at age 10.
And though he tried pursuing other passions — Neville said he went into college aiming to build a reputation as “the party kid” — he never found anything like football. While other people found peace in surfing or going to the beach, Neville stayed on the field.
“Football is the only thing that makes me truly happy, truly peaceful,” Neville said.
So when NIU ensured Neville’s career could continue at the FBS level, it didn’t take the quarterback long to make his choice. He announced his commitment to NIU on Saturday morning.
“I didn’t want to waste their time or waste my time,” Neville said. “I kind of wanted to get the ball rolling on that.”
This fall, he and the Huskies can prove themselves against Power Five foes Iowa and Maryland — where transfer quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Alabama star Tua Tagovailoa, is a friend of Neville’s. In 2021, Northern Illinois has a date with Michigan.
Neville also has friends at Mid-American Conference opponents Central Michigan and Buffalo, both of whom appear on NIU’s schedule this fall.
“It’s really an amazing opportunity to come back to that level and play with my friends again,” Neville said.
Not concerned with returning quarterbacks on the Huskies’ roster — including 2019 starter Ross Bowers — Neville hopes to compete for playing time. He doesn’t expect a spot to be given to him, though; he wants to earn it.
After all, Neville said, playing for Northern Illinois is “an incredible opportunity” — one that he always had faith he’d receive.
“It’s amazing when any school wants to take a chance on somebody,” Neville said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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