Manny Patterson’s football career at the University of Maine ended in with a knee injury.
Nearly 11 months later, the former Black Bears cornerback is back on the field for the first time since he got hurt in a 47-31 victory over Albany on Nov. 2, 2019.
This time, he is a member of the practice squad of the National Football League’s Washington Football Team.
He practiced with Washington for the first time on Wednesday.
“It’s super exciting,” Patterson said Wednesday night. “It has been an uphill battle from the beginning and to finally make it here is a blessing.”
Patterson admitted that when he suffered the freak injury by taking a “bad misstep” while covering an Albany receiver, he definitely felt like his football career was over.
But after having surgery in the Baltimore area, he got his mental edge back and began working toward continuing his football career.
“I had to get back to what I wanted to be. There were some exercises that hurt while I was going through rehab but I kept telling myself what my end goal was and what I wanted to do and that made the process easier,” he said.
Patterson said he began feeling nearly 100 percent the end of July and his agent lined up a workout with the Washington Football Club earlier this week. They officially signed him on Wednesday.
The Baltimore native joins Baltimore Ravens fullback-tight end Patrick Ricard and Los Angeles Rams practice squad offensive lineman Jamil Demby as former Black Bears who are with NFL organizations.
Patterson said his first practice went well.
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to prove myself every day. I’m just going to keep my head down and keep working. I want to show the coaches I can play,” Patterson said.
“Since I was young, I wanted to be the best football player I could be. I keep striving every day to follow that journey and make it come true.”
Patterson led the Colonial Athletic Association in 2018 with 22 pass breakups and ranked third among 124 Football Championship Subdivision teams with 1.6 pass breakups per game.
Even though he missed the last three games of last season, he still earned All-CAA first-team honors for the second straight year. He registered 27 tackles and five pass breakups in nine games.
As a member of Washington’s practice squad, he will earn $8,400 per week. Players with more than two years of experience earn $12,000 weekly.
Before the knee injury, Patterson started 44 games in his UMaine career and posted 113 total tackles, 54 pass breakups and three interceptions.
He was a preseason All-American in 2018 and one of 25 players on the preseason watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award presented to the best defensive player in the FCS.
“He was a great football player for us, he’s a great person and he loves football,” UMaine head coach Nick Charlton said. “He deserves this opportunity and he will make the most of it. He is a great representative of our program.”
The Washington Football Team is 1-2 and tied with Dallas atop the National Football Conference East Division.
Washington hosts Baltimore on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The cornerbacks on the NFL roster are six-year pro Ronald Darby from Florida State, five-year man Kendall Fuller from Virginia Tech and four-year pro Fabian Moreau from UCLA. They also have two former FCS players, second-year man Jimmy Moreland from James Madison and Danny Johnson from Southern University, who is in his third season.
Patterson said he and Fuller grew up in the same area in Baltimore, even though he didn’t know him until they met on Wednesday.