Kornacki: 'Shea Man' Discusses Game When Dreams Became Realities
9/8/2018 9:00:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Shea Patterson grew up dreaming of playing at Michigan Stadium, and his debut there lived up to his boyhood expectations. They usually do when you grow up to fire out-cut passes with the velocity and precision Patterson does.
The junior quarterback completed 12-of-17 passes for 125 yards, and while those are not eye-popping numbers, he made passes that were. Three of them went for touchdowns in Michigan's 49-3 win over Western Michigan on Saturday (Sept. 8).
"A couple throws he made out of the pocket -- those are big-time plays," said Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh. "He was really accurate again -- playing cool and making the tight-window throws like last week. He's ascending, playing really well."
"Shea Man" has been making those passes in his imagination ever since he was 3 years old, sitting in his pajamas on his bed at home in Toledo, Ohio, with his father, Sean, telling him bedtime stories that planted a seed which sprouted into reality against the Broncos.
"It's crazy to think about now," Patterson said. "Every night before I went to bed, from ages 3 to 10 years old, he would tell a story to me every night, and I loved hearing it because it gave me the chills.
"Dad would sit next to me and tell a story about how we would be in the stands, and one of the quarterbacks went down and the coach would call for the next quarterback, but didn't have a backup. My dad would whisper, 'And the crowd calls for the Shea Man.' That was my nickname when I was little."
Shea chuckled at the memory.
"Thinking of that really hit me today," added Shea, glancing down and smiling.
His father would always finish his story by saying, "And in comes…"
His son would always finish it: "Shea Man!"
Tight end Sean McKeon (left) celebrates with quarterback Shea Patterson after the duo combined for the Wolverines' first touchdown.
The boy who would become the Wolverine quarterback for real said he was either wearing pajamas or "my No. 2 Charles Woodson jersey" to bed. He is now wearing No. 2 for real, having called Woodson to assure the College Football Hall of Famer approved of that, and being cleared with the message to make him proud and, foremost, be a great leader.
"I remember listening to those stories like it was yesterday," said Patterson. "I would run out (in the dream) with us down, in a two-minute drill. I'd throw passes and we'd win the game. It was just such a cool story."
His first real touchdown pass got the Wolverines on the scoreboard at 7:05 of the first quarter. Patterson found tight end Sean McKeon open in the right flat, zipped the ball to him, and McKeon headed for the goal line, extending the ball in his right hand to score.
"I can't even describe the feeling I had after that," said Patterson. "You just look up, and see your teammates celebrating after working day-in and day-out with them, and it's just even more special to be at the University of Michigan and doing that at the Big House."
But there was much more in store.
The five-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones came on third-and-goal midway through the third quarter, and was delivered into perhaps the narrowest of those "tight-window" challenges he faced. Patterson drilled a perfect spiral to the left corner of the end zone, where Peoples-Jones, under tight man-to-man coverage, hauled in the pass over his shoulder to complete a pretty play.
"We had a slant (route) outside," said Patterson, "and Nico Collins kind of cleared the corner from the back of the end zone. Donovan ran a heck of a route just on that inside to get to the back pylon, and my O-line did a hell of a job getting me time. So, it was kind of a routine throw."
Harbaugh would beg to differ. Routine? Hardly. The coach shook his head while describing it:
"The throw to Donovan probably stands out (most) in my mind. It's the one that really puts an exclamation point on it. It looked like a zero blitz, all-out blitz, with man coverage, free safety, and we really thought we had the right play called. We were bringing Nico in from the outside receiver position from the boundary, and we thought that's where the ball was going to go.
"As the play developed, I saw a linebacker drop off into that space. And for (Patterson) to calculate that, and change the channel and go to the corner and throw it to Donovan with that accurate of a throw, you're really seeing things well."
Patterson added, "We had that concept in the red zone. We worked on it all week."
His deepest throw came midway through the second quarter on a 44-yard touchdown pass to Collins, who caught a 52-yarder from Patterson last week at Notre Dame.
Patterson made a play-fake handoff, dropped back, pumped his arm and fired a bullet down the middle to Collins, who caught it at the end zone's doorstep and glided in to score.
It was Michigan's first touchdown pass to a wide receiver since Grant Perry's in last season's home opener against Cincinnati.
"That one felt really good," said Patterson, who threw 23 touchdowns in 10 games for Ole Miss before transferring after last season and being granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA. "And Nico does a great job of taking the top off, and getting over the safety. All I had to do was get it up."
Collins knows better, and added, "Shea is a great quarterback. I feel he's the best quarterback. He makes small plays big."
Patterson orchestrated the game plan with the same precision with which he threw, and also ran for 16 yards on a third-and-five play.
He made a nine-yard pass on the game's second drive to Oliver Martin that was not as glamorous as a touchdown, but was just as impressive and difficult to execute. The right-handed thrower, while running left under hot pursuit, was able to put the ball right on the money for Martin to make a strong catch the instant before going out of bounds.
Whether taking the snap in the shotgun or from under center, whether throwing in the pocket or on the run, he seemed comfortable.
"I'm very comfortable," he said before crediting Harbaugh and every assistant coach on the offensive staff for his development.
"Coach Harbaugh was just constantly giving me confidence, saying, 'You're going to get it.' It was a lot at first, back in the spring, but now it's like second nature."
His family, which moved from Toledo to Shreveport, Louisiana, and has now relocated to San Antonio, Texas, was at the Big House to watch the whole dream become a reality with him. They used to attend at least two Michigan games a year, and wonder if "Shea Man" might ever find his way from fiction to fact.
"It didn't really hit me until I was on the bus driving over here," Patterson said. "I remembered being at tailgates and talking to my dad. And when I ran out the tunnel with all my teammates, I can't describe that feeling. I was kind of emotional about it, but I was excited as well."
Harbaugh said he spoke with Patterson about running out of the tunnel before the game to slap the "M Club" banner at midfield. The coach had a look in his eyes as if he were reliving that experience himself, 36 years ago, when he got to slap that banner for the first time as a player.
"I had several discussions with him about running out of the tunnel from our very first conversation," said Harbaugh. "Then, over the last months, he kept bringing it up. The first time he got into the stadium to practice, he pointed out where he saw his first game.
"I was behind him coming out of the tunnel, and I wanted to see what he was going to do. He touched the banner and he kind of went off and did a little (two-hand) reverse. That was good. A little sugar on the flakes. But that was neat. I wanted to see that. It's awesome when it means something to somebody."
"Shea Man" touched the banner, and the whole experience touched his heart. As great as his skills are, his sincerity in regard to what the Michigan experience means to him is pretty great, too.
This quarterback has got the whole package, and now a No. 2 jersey with his own name on the back.
