The rebooted USFL held its inaugural draft on Tuesday. The first pick in it belonged to the Michigan Panthers. They selected a player the locals will be familiar with, former Michigan Wolverines quarterback Shea Patterson.
Patterson was Michigan’s quarterback for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Over those years, he completed 60.1% of his passes for 5,661 yards with 45 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
His pro career has not been long, but he’s already firmly in the journeyman camp. Patterson went undrafted in 2020 and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs but was cut in July. After a brief tenure with the Canadian Football League’s BC Lions, he stayed in the CFL and signed with the Montreal Alouettes for the 2021 season. Patterson got into five games but didn’t attempt a pass.
While Patterson hasn’t seen a lot of action on the gridiron recently, his selection drew a big reaction.
One fan wanted to see another former University of Michigan quarterback taken.
We can’t argue with that. Tom Brady would have made a bigger splash.
Other fans had a wide variety of reactions.
https://twitter.com/6AFlynn/status/1496315034514960384
https://twitter.com/lukezim/status/1496286138486726660
If nothing else, we can say this about Patterson’s selection. It isn’t boring. People definitely know who the guy is. And for a new league looking to make a splash, name recognition is important.
Time will tell if he can ignite his professional NFL career in the same place his collegiate career came to an end.
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