Former Shreveport High School Hero Starts New Pro Football Season

Football is a non-stop sport now. You might think that "football season" is a short few months in the fall and winter...but you'd be wrong.

The NFL keeps our attention through the spring with free agency and the draft, then they kick off training camps in the summer months. But outside of the NFL, other pro football leagues are going strong.

The United States Football League, or USFL, is rolling along this Spring with some great games and big names. Then the summer months will be filled with the Canadian Football League, or CFL.

In fact, the CFL has pre-season games this week. Including the Saskatchewan Roughriders, where a former Shreveport football star plays.

Former Calvary football star Shea Patterson is in his second year with the Roughriders, and is getting his pre-season kicked off today. This is a pre-season that features a "quarterback battle" that Patterson will be at the center of. The team is currently looking at Trevor Harris to be their starter, but the competition appears to be wide-open. Giving Patterson a chance to be the starter at some point this year.

While playing high school football in Shreveport, Shea Patterson put up over 5,000 passing yards, and accounted for over 70 touchdowns at Calvary Baptist Academy. Oh, and two LHSAA State Championships.

An incredible resume for a player in their sophomore and junior seasons. But by that point, everyone knew Patterson was special. He had already committed to play college football at Arizona by the time he hit the field for Calvary. However, we know that didn't exactly work out...and too bad for the Wildcats.

Patterson would eventually commit to Ole Miss, and then transferred to IMG Academy in Florida for his senior year of high school. He would head off to play for the Rebels after his one high school season in Florida.

But his time at Ole Miss was even more tumultuous than his initial recruiting process. After he became a casualty of the Hugh Freeze episode, Patterson was allowed to seek a transfer to another college program.

Since he had performed incredibly well in his first two season for Ole Miss, a lot of programs were excited about welcoming Patterson into their program. The program that he chose happened to belong to the school with the most football wins in NCAA history, the University of Michigan. Who happened to also be coached by a former Super Bowl coach, and NFL quarterback, and future National Champion, Jim Harbaugh.

Because the NCAA approved a waiver submitted by Patterson, he was able to skip the usual transfer period, and play right away. Patterson then led the Wolverines to a phenomenal season. His 14 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions have helped to carry the U of M offense all season, and lead to the team making the Peach Bowl.

His senior year was another strong campaign for the Wolverines, which ended with Patterson breaking into the Top 10 All-Time for Michigan in Completions, Passing Touchdowns, and Passing Yards. He moved past names like Tom Brady and Jim Harbaugh on these lists. He remains the only quarterback in these top 10 rankings that only played for 2 seasons at Michigan.

After his college career, Patterson would go undrafted in the NFL. But he did sign an undrafted rookie contract with the Kansas City Chiefs after the draft. However he did get waived before the season started.

From there, Patterson got his first taste of the CFL with the BC Lions and the Montreal Alouettes. But when the USFL was set to relaunch in 2022, Patterson made history when he was the first overall pick in the first draft for the USFL. He was selected #1 overall by the Michigan Panthers.

The Panthers were one of the worst franchises in the new USFL, which wasn't Patterson's fault at all. He eventually left the team during the season, and was brought onto the New Orleans Breakers roster. But after the season ended, Patterson would once again take his talents north of the border, and join Saskatchewan.

Which brings us to this CFL season. Where Patterson is in the mix to take snaps with the Roughriders this season. Keeping that pro football dream alive, over 1,600 miles north of Calvary Baptist Academy.