Why does Ole Miss QB Shea Patterson wear number 20 jersey?
Published 11:06 pm Friday, November 11, 2016
Ole Miss freshman quarterback Shea Patterson wears number 20 on his Rebel jersey. That’s an unusual number for a quarterback, for sure.
Why does Shea Patterson wear 20?
Simple. Patterson’s late grandfather George Patterson played for the Detroit Pistons in the 1967-68 seasons and wore number 20. When Patterson began practice with Ole Miss this spring as an early enrollee, he had to chose a number and the number 7 he wore at IMG Academy was being worn at Ole Miss by quarterback Jason Pellerin.
So Patterson chose his grandfather’s number and on Saturday against Texas A&M becomes one of the few quarterbacks in the game to not wear number 1 through 19.
From Shreveport, Louisiana, Patterson played at IMG Academy in Florida last year. He was ranked the No. 1 QB of the 2016 recruiting class and a 5-star recruit by Rivals.com, 247Sports.com and Scout.com Listed as the No. 3 overall recruit by Rivals.com, No. 3 by 247Sports.com, No. 4 by Scout.com and No. 15 by ESPN.com.
Freeze pulled Patterson’s redshirt following Chad Kelly’s season-ending injury last week against Georgia Southern.