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I recently caught up with an old friend and college teammate, Patrick Young, who played quarterback at Kent State University in the mid-80s. We had some unforgettable times back then he even dated my best friend! Patrick, a Miami native, was our star quarterback and a fan favorite on campus. Now, as a dad and an author, he’s sharing the story of his incredible football journey in a memoir that dives deep into the highs and lows of his career, from college to the pros. The book is titled, Pat Young …In A Pale Kent Football Moonlight.
Though we had a blast in school, I had no idea back then that Patrick was battling depression, racism, heartbreak, and betrayal challenges that young athletes often face under intense pressure to perform. In this interview, we talk about what inspired him to write his memoir, the realities of life as a football player, and much more. Trust me, this is one story you don’t want to miss!
More inside…
How did you get started in football, and what drew you to the quarterback position?
I got started in football at age four playing a game in the neighborhood with guys up to 5 years older, called throw-up tackle or kill the man with the ball, which honed my toughness and skillset. However I was actually scared to play organized football when my father ask me if I wanted to play, due to my only vision of organize football, being of grown men, with beards on TV in the NFL. At age eight my father took me to a Pop Warner game, and I couldn’t wait to start the following year at age nine.
As far as the quarterback position, I was always a leader, plus I could throw the ball; but at age nine I wanted to play running back. During tryouts the coach tried several skilled guys at Quarterback and I was the selected the starter. Each year thereafter I wanted to change to running back, but my reputation as a quarterback had set precedence.
What was your most memorable game during your college career, and why?
My freshman year, we are leading in the 4th quarter by three points versus Central Michigan in our stadium. We’re on their 20 yard line trying to add another score to to increase our lead, when I threw an interception with nine minutes left in the game. Central Michigan goes on a methodical 14 play drive to score, and we find ourselves down four points with one minute and 24 seconds left in the game. Showing resilience, we were able to move the to Central Michigan 36 yard line in a short period of time. With under 20 seconds left on the game clock, I threw a 36 yard touchdown pass to Eric Dye with only 12 seconds left on the clock to win the game. Despite my interception, I was able to prove to my teammates that I would never give up on them. More importantly, we improved to 3-0 in the MAC which lead to an unbelievable night of partying on campus.
How did you handle the pressure of being a starting quarterback for a major college program?
Pressure presents itself in various ways so I have to answer this under the three genres my book fall under;
Sports, Drama, Erotica
The Sports pressure was easy to navigate. Whenever I was on the field, I felt there was no one better than me. There may have been bigger and faster players, but my goal was to be the most impactful playmaker on the field, which happened more times than not.
The Drama pressure was a little more difficult to navigate because it involved politics, that I wasn’t exposed to during my little little league career. In High School and College I observed Coaches, invoking politics, that benefited their own best interests, even if it went against the team’s ultimate goal of winning. The pressure of having to navigate those hidden agendas, left me with many sleepness nights.
The Erotic pressure started off being manageable, but as my status level increased on campus, so did the difficulties of navigating the plethora of women that came with it. Immersing myself in the erotic, had become a coping mechanism for the political pressure. And just like my aforementioned answer, this pressure also led to many sleepness nights.
After your college football career ended, how did you transition into life after football?
It’s in my DNA to navigate this thing called life responsibly, so transitioning from a dream deferred to the reality of self sustainability was not difficult. The difficult part has been getting through it psychologically, over the years. Anything can be trigger and drum up the hurtful trauma; a football game on TV; the Heisman presentation; an announcement of an NFL player’s contract… as a matter of fact, even this interview.
Can you walk us through your preparation for your new book, Pat Young …In A Pale Kent Football Moonlight.
The thought of the book was four years prior to it’s release. I would come up with concepts and outlines of things I wanted to write about and jot them down for reference. After about six months of mental mapping, and research, I was able to build on the previous concepts until I had a clear vision of what I wanted to write about. That process yielded the chapter titles. Several six month periods later, the words just started to flow, and I found myself sitting at my laptop typing several hours a day, for three months straight until the book was complete. Then another month of proof reading and editing. I chose to self publish via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) to keep out the of pocket cost low. With that being said, I would like for this book to capture the minds of readers and yield a nice return on investment in order to fund the development other media projects.
Thank you Tammie for giving me this opportunity to expand my reach to a broader audience, via your awesome platform.
English (US) ·