SENIOR SPOTLIGHT: McAlester's Connor Fields soaking up the atmosphere of his senior season

Derek Hatridge, McAlester News-Capital, Okla.
·2 min read

Oct. 21—Connor Fields has been around the game of football for quite some time.

The McAlester senior said football has been part of most of his life, so much that sometimes the beginning is a little fuzzy.

"Last time I can remember is fifth grade," he said. "So it's been a minute."

Fields said his favorite thing about the game comes in the form of the atmosphere, with one of his favorite moments on game days being when the Buffs take to the field together.

"It's just something about the feeling of the game," he said. "It's just the feeling that you get when you run out the tunnel, just that burst of (the fans) are here to watch you win."

But Fields admitted that even after all these years, he still gets a little nervous as well as excited. So he listens to music to make sure and "calm the nerves before the storm."

"A little bit of both, depending on the teams," he said. "Especially when the playoffs come around, butterflies were definitely in my stomach."

Outside of football, Fields said he can usually be found working on the family ranch. But even when he's not doing that, he still likes to hang out in the outdoors.

"We work a lot of cows, so that's a big thing," he said. "Free time, I do like to fish. And then once hunting season rolls around, I try to stay in the woods as much as I can."

After high school, Fields plans to attend to Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee and earn a degree to work on high lines.

As Fields looked back on his life, he said there has been a mountain of support for him on and off the football field, and he credited his parents and every football coach he's had from the beginning with helping make him the player and person he is today.

But Fields will be hanging up his black and gold for the final time at the end of this season as he'll begin a new chapter of his life. He said it'd be up to the next Buffs in line to keep the tradition of success going, and he imparted a little wisdom on how the next generation can make the most of it.

"My advice to them would just be 'have fun,'" he said. "I mean, you can be serious about the game — but at the end of the day, it's a game. You've got to have fun while you're doing it, and be coachable."

Contact Derek Hatridge at dhatridge@mcalesternews.com.