User:LaurPower86/sandbox

Matthew Bernard Laur (born February 14, 1999), is an American football wide receiver, currently playing overseas in Germany. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Laur played college football for the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars. After graduating in December, 2021, he continued his football career in Germany. He is the first player in the history of the University of Minnesota Morris to be a member of the XFL draft pool.

Early years
Matthew Laur was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Irondale High School in New Brighton, Minnesota from the fall of 2013 until graduating in the spring of 2017, where he was a letterman in football and weight lifting. In football, he played wide receiver and outside linebacker for the Knights football team. Laur played center as a freshman, but changed to wide receiver and outside linebacker his sophomore season, when he started practicing with JV and varsity. After going 0-10 as a freshman, his sophomore year didn't go any better, as both varsity and junior varsity went winless. Laur started receiving more playing time on special teams units, especially kickoff. As a junior, he became a full time starter for junior varsity going both ways as a wide receiver and outside linebacker. At the end of his junior season (2015), Laur received the Most Improved JV Player award from the team. In the fall of 2016, Laur's senior year of high school, he was placed back on junior varsity instead of being promoted to varsity. He would never start a high school varsity football game, outside of special teams, only getting to start the second half of his senior night at outside linebacker. Laur recorded 1 tackle and 1 fumble recovery as a member of the kickoff team against Park Center Senior High School during his senior night. He would only add a handful more tackles to his high school varsity career stats, all from special teams.

Laur was also a member of his high school's track and field team during his freshman and sophomore years. He competed in the 100m, 800m, shotput, and discus during his two years with the team.

During his junior year of high school, Laur went out for the tennis team. He participated in both singles and doubles during the season for the junior varsity team. This would be his only season of high school tennis.

As a high school senior, Laur joined the Mounds View rugby club. Laur played lock during the rugby season, and wing during the rugby sevens season. Rugby is where Laur learned how to drop kick field goals.

Laur enrolled in the delayed entry program for the Marine Corps during the summer of 2016, wanting to pursue military police. In March of 2017, Matthew was called by the University of Minnesota Morris, and they recruited him to play football for them as a wide receiver. He committed to Morris shortly after to be a student athlete and get his Bachelor of Arts degree in human services: criminal justice. Minnesota Morris was the only school to recruit Laur for athletics.

College career
Laur played his entire college career for the University of Minnesota Morris. From the fall of 2017 to the fall of 2021, Laur attended the University of Minnesota Morris as a student athlete. He played wide receiver and special teams for their football program, while earning his bachelor's degree in human services: criminal justice.

In addition to playing football during his time at the University of Minnesota Morris, Laur also played for their tennis team. He participated in both singles and doubles for his college tennis team. Laur finished his collegiate tennis career with a record of 2-1 in singles, and 1-1 in doubles, for a 3-2 (.600) overall record.

Laur was also a member of the rugby club at Minnesota Morris. He participated in an alumni match his freshman year and played the wing position. After a rugby tournament was canceled during his freshman year, Laur decided to step away from rugby to focus more on football.

2017 season
As a freshman at the University of Minnesota Morris, Matthew Laur appeared in 4 games of 10 games. He made his collegiate debut on September 9th, 2017 at Westminster College. The following week on September 16th, 2017, Laur would get his first snaps on offense during a home game against Eureka College. The following week, September 23rd, 2017, Laur recorded his first collegiate reception playing at the College of St. Scholastica, for a seven yard gain and a first down. The cougars would finish this season 1-9 overall, only winning their homecoming game against Crown College.

2018 Season
As a Sophomore in 2018, Laur appeared in eight out of ten games, mostly on special teams. Laur racked up 3 tackles (1 solo) on kickoff, all coming against Crown College on October 6th, 2018. Laur earned his first collegiate start at wide receiver against Martin Luther College on October 27th, 2018. Although he didn't see much of an increase in game time on offense, he started making plays as a scout player in practice, and started gaining the attention of his coaches. Minnesota Morris would finish the season 3-7, earning their final win of the season against Greenville University in a snow storm on November 10th, 2018.

2019 season
As a junior in 2019, Laur appeared in all ten games, starting four of them at wide receiver. He recorded seven catches for fifty receiving yards, with his longest reception of the season on September 7th, 2019, for 12 yards. His season high for receptions and receiving yards both came on homecoming on September 21st, 2019 against Macmurray College. Laur finished homecoming with 4 receptions for 23 receiving yards. Laur also had two tackles on the season from kickoff, coming against Valley City State University, and Crown College. Morris would finish the season 1-9, with their lone win coming against Iowa Wesleyan University.

2020-2021 (Covid-19) season
When his university announced that fall sports were being cancelled due to COVID-19, Laur took the fall semester off from school so he would have eligibility to play in the fall of 2021 and have a senior season. He returned in the spring of 2021 to play a four game "covid season." Before the spring season started, The College of St. Scholastica switched from the UMAC to the MIAC, withdrawing from this shortened UMAC season. The final game against Crown College on April 16th, 2021, was cancelled due to some Crown players in the U.S. National Guard being deployed to protests in Minneapolis that were going on after the murder of George Floyd.

Laur started both spring games, recording 2 catches for 24 yards and a touchdown, all coming against University of Northwestern - St. Paul on April 3rd, 2021. That would end up being the only touchdown of Laur's collegiate career. Minnesota Morris finished the shortened spring season 0-2.

2021 season
Finally a senior season during the fall 2021 season, Laur started all ten games of the season, and was also a team captain. Laur caught 19 passes for 291 yards, with his season high for catches in a game coming on September 18th, 2021 against Hamline University, and again on November 13th, 2021 against Greenville University in the UMAC conference championship game, with 4 catches in each of those contests. Laur's season and career high for receiving yards in a game, came against Greenville University as well, with 80 receiving yards in the conference championship game. Laur also added five tackles on kickoff during the season, two being solo. Both solo tackles occurred during a game at Macalester College on September 4th, 2021. The Cougars went 5-5 overall (4-2 in conference play), and lost in the conference championship game against Greenville University. This would be the first time since 2006 that the Cougars would win 4 games in a row. Laur would receive the coaches award at the end of the season, for his improvement as a player and person, on and off the field, and his contributions to the team.

After using all his college eligibility, Laur started contacting teams all over the world looking to continue his football career after college.

2022 Season
After graduating from the University of Minnesota Morris in December, 2021, Laur signed a one year contract to play football overseas as a wide receiver for the Giessen Golden Dragons in the German Football League 2 in March of 2022. During the 2022 GFL2 season, Laur played in all ten games, recording 54 catches, for 715 receiving yards, 12 receiving touchdowns, and a two-point conversion. Laur also tallied 13 tackles, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery as a member of the kickoff unit during the ten game season. The Golden Dragons finished the season 6-4 overall, finishing in 4th place in the GFL2 South. Film and stats from the 2022 GFL2 season earned Laur an invite to the 2023 XFL draft pool without attending a combine.

2023 Season
After going undrafted in the 2023 XFL draft, Laur spent training camp with the Salina Liberty in the Champions Indoor Football league during the spring of 2023 in Salina, Kansas. Laur was released at the end of training camp, but signed with the Tollense Sharks, located in Neubrandenburg, Germany, in the fourth tier of the German Football League system. While mainly playing wide receiver for the Sharks, he also played tight end, running back, quarterback, and returned punts and kicks. Laur was not only signed by the Sharks to play however, as he was also their offensive coordinator and offensive play caller. Under Laur as offensive coordinator and play caller, the Sharks offense went 8-0, with the number one offense in the league. Due to issues surrounding the extension of import player visas, Laur had to end his season earlier than expected, and miss the final two games. The Sharks still finished 10-0 on the season, winning their ninth game without imports, and winning their tenth game due to a forfeit from the other team. This would be Laur's first career championship, dominating the Oberliga Ost. Laur played the eighth game at quarterback after the original import quarterback abandoned the team upon hearing the news about being unable to expand visas through the end of the season, skipping the eighth game. In only seven games at wide receiver, Laur racked up 64 catches, for 1,100 receiving yards (1,374 all-purpose yards), 15 receiving touchdowns, 3 rushing touchdowns, and one passing touchdown.

2024 Season
Following his success during his first season as a player and coach, the Munich Rangers signed Laur as a wide receiver and offensive coordinator for the 2024 season. The Rangers play in the 3rd tier of the German Football League system.