Shea Patterson fields questions and ground balls with equal ease.
Patterson, one of six American-born quarterbacks at the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ rookie camp, was a 39th-round selection by the Texas Rangers in the 2018 Major League Baseball draft.
Shortly after being drafted, Patterson signed a six-year contract with the Rangers.
“But my heart’s with football,” the 26-year-old quarterback, a most obliging interviewee, stated following Thursday’s workout at Saskatoon’s Griffiths Stadium.
“I’m going to play football, hopefully, as long as Trevor Harris has.”
Harris, a CFLer since 2012, is joined in the Roughriders’ quarterbacks’ room by Patterson, Mason Fine, Jake Dolegala, Zerrick Cooper, Levi Lewis and Noah Pelletier.
(The latter pivot, a member of the University of Regina Rams, has been invited to the Coors Light Riders Training Camp as part of the CFL’s quarterback internship program.)
Patterson and Harris are second-time teammates. They were cohorts with the Montreal Alouettes, with whom Patterson dressed for five games — principally as the short-yardage quarterback — in 2021.
“The talent that’s up here, you don’t really realize it coming from the States,” Patterson said. “But once you’re up here, you realize that the talent is very real and it’s very, very relevant.
“I was very fortunate to be able to spend time in Montreal backing up Trevor and to get that experience behind him and to learn from him. Now that we’re both here together, it’s pretty cool.”
After being chosen first overall by the Michigan Panthers in the 2022 USFL draft, Patterson spent some time in that fledgling circuit before the Roughriders announced his signing on Feb. 13. One day later, in the early hours of the CFL’s 2023 free-agency period, Harris became a Roughrider.
“We’ve been able to form a really, really good bond over the last couple of years,” Patterson said. “I’ve been around a lot of guys. I’ve been around a lot of vets and have been able to see them work day in and day out. But, to my knowledge and my experience, there’s really nobody quite like Trevor.
“You get to really see, day by day, what it takes to be a pro. I was fortunate to be able to learn two years ago how to do that. It’s almost like he has kind of shown me the path.”
That said, Harris and Patterson took distinctly different paths to professional football.
Whereas Harris played at a small college — Edinboro University in Pennsylvania — Patterson was a prominent member of two major NCAA programs.
Patterson was at Ole Miss for two years before playing at the University of Michigan as a junior and a senior.
With the Michigan Wolverines, he played at massive Michigan Stadium (a.k.a. The Big House) in front of 100,000-plus ardent supporters.
“It was a dream come true,” Patterson said. “I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and eventually moved down to Texas when I was about 13 years old. I grew up a Michigan fan and I went to The Big House with my dad and my brothers.
“When I was a kid, I was walking into the tailgate and then, on the bus when I was in college, I was seeing those little kids walking into the game. It was a complete 180 — a great experience.
“In fact, in my freshman year at Ole Miss, I played in front of 115,000 people at Texas A&M, so I was exposed to a lot of fun, exhilarating atmospheres at an early stage of my career.”
In the latter stages of his time at Michigan, Patterson moved ahead of Tom Brady on the Wolverines’ all-time passing-yardage list. Patterson proceeded to leapfrog Jim Harbaugh — the Wolverines’ head coach since 2015 — to finish with 5,661 yards and move into the No. 7 spot.
After throwing 22 touchdown passes as a junior and 23 more as a senior, the undrafted — at least in football — Patterson signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and had a stint with the NFL team.
In 2021, the CFL came calling. Before joining the Alouettes, Patterson had been on the B.C. Lions’ practice roster.
Last year, he was contacted by the Roughriders but, as luck would have it, the call came just after he had signed a USFL contract.
Now free of those obligations, he is delighted to be a Roughrider.
“It was just the most intriguing opportunity,” Patterson said.
“To me, every opportunity that you get is the most important one. It’s the one that’s right in front of you.
“I’m so grateful for this one — especially to be able to come into a province like Saskatchewan, with the fan base and the atmosphere and the tradition behind the program and the organization.”
He was introduced to a different organization five years ago.
“I was on the golf course, on the second tee, when I got a call,” Patterson said, rewinding to June 6, 2018 and the MLB draft. “I was told, ‘Hey, we’re taking you. Welcome to the Texas Rangers organization.’
“It was awesome. I went out there and got to go through spring training for a couple of years and I got to be around the Triple-A ball, so it was a great experience.”
For the record, he wasn’t the first member of his family to be drafted.
George Patterson, Shea’s grandfather, was selected in the 12th round of the 1961 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals (who have evolved into the Sacramento Kings).
George Patterson played in the NBA for one season (1967-68), as a 6-foot-8 centre with the Detroit Pistons.
As for Shea Patterson, he put all his eggs in one basket several years ago, when football became the focus.
“I actually stopped playing baseball when I was a sophomore in high school, which was the crazy part, so I didn’t even play in my junior and senior years,” Patterson noted.
“Baseball was actually my first love growing up, so I’m sure I’ll always be around it one way or another.
“I’ll probably play slow-pitch softball someday.”
