Local Football Community Mourns Loss Of St. Frances Academy Star Lamar Patterson
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Lamar 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.
Just this week, the Florida native posted pictures on Twitter donning Penn State's navy blue and white jerseys during an unofficial visit.
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.
"Our team mom she told us to come downstairs, our football team, and we didn't know what happened," said defensive tackle Kedrick George. "She broke down the news and we all just broke down. It was a sad moment. It was just shocking."
"Everybody knew him. He was really like the shine of the school," said Deandre Brown.
Following the news of Patterson's death, members of the local football community started grieving the loss of the junior on social media.
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."
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."
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori also acknowledged the tragedy.
"I'd like us all to remember Lamar in our prayers and reach out to his family with love," he said.
George remembered Patterson as a great leader.
"He set a great example for everybody," he said.
Patterson's teammates are now pledging to use their grief as motivation.
"Dedicating everything we do to Lamar and keeping his legacy alive for however long we do it," said defensive tackle Nicholas Myles.
Memorial services for Patterson are not yet finalized.
The crash remains under investigation.
