Local Football Community Mourns Loss Of St. Frances Academy Star Lamar Patterson
By Amy Kawata
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BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — The local football community is mourning the loss of St. Frances Academy wide receiver Lamar Patterson, who died Wednesday in a crash with an MTA Light Rail train in Linthicum.
A native of Florida, Patterson was rated as a 3-star wide receiver by 247Sports.com and reportedly had offers from Arizona State, West Virginia and Boston College, among other schools.
On Jan. 31, Patterson tweeted a picture of himself donning a Virginia Tech uniform after visiting with head coach Brent Pry.
One of Patterson’s last posts on Hudl, a social media platform for high school athletes, included highlights of the speedster finding the end zone on screen passes, fly routes and jet sweeps.
Following the news of Patterson’s death, members of the local football community started grieving the loss of the junior on social media and posting their condolences.
St. Frances Academy head coach Messay Hailemariam tweeted “Please wake we up from this nightmare” and said Patterson was “in heaven with my other goon Aaron Wilson,” the team’s defensive end who reportedly died last April after a battle with cancer.
Biff Poggi, the former St. Frances head coach who now works on the staff at the University of Michigan, tweeted Patterson was recruited to the private Catholic school in Baltimore as an 8th grader.
“We lost him yesterday,” he tweeted. “[I’m] trusting Jesus. [Don’t have] the words. I will love him forever.”
St. Frances defensive back Christian Garrett said he was still in disbelief, sharing a picture with his teammate.
“I just was talking to you yesterday about college,” he tweeted. “This year was really your year.”
University of Maryland head coach Michael Locksley offered thoughts and prayers to the St. Frances team. He called Patterson “a bright and talented young man with so much life ahead of him.”
Andre Roye Jr., a St. Frances offensive tackle who recently committed to Maryland, tweeted, “Long Live LP.”
Opposing teams and players from across the region also offered their sympathies.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori called for the Catholic community’s support.
“I’d like us all to remember Lamar in our prayers and reach out to his family with love,” he said.
Memorial services for Patterson are not yet finalized.
The crash remains under investigation.
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