Patton’s death a surprise to former teammates

YSU standout died Tuesday at age 45

Staff report

The news of Shawn Patton’s death struck Chris Vecchione hard.

It came in the form of a text message informing him that his former Youngstown State University teammate was dead.

“I got a text and it was one of those moments where I put my phone down and teared up,” Vecchione said.

“We all saw him a few months ago during the 25th anniversary celebration last season with [then-YSU head coach Jim] Tressel and everyone from those days.”

None had any idea it would be perhaps the final time they’d see their friend and former teammate.

Patton, the former Campbell and YSU running back, was found unresponsive and pronounced dead Tuesday, according to the Mahoning County Coroner’s Office. Investigators are waiting for the results of toxicology tests conducted on Patton.

Vecchione, a defensive tackle during the Penguins’ glory years of the early 1990s, felt Patton overcame so much in his life — whether it was a hit from a linebacker or from life — that it was difficult this week to grasp that this was the one time he wouldn’t rise again.

Patton, 45, left a considerable athletic legacy in the Valley.

Before Maurice Clarett, before L.J. Scott, before Lynn Bowden, there was Patton.

He led Campbell to a state final appearance in 1989 before heading to YSU to play for Tressel’s Penguins. Patton played two seasons (1990 and 1994) at YSU. He helped the Penguins win a Division I-AA national championship in ’94.

Patton is still the single-season all-purpose yards record holder at YSU, totaling 2,913 yards in that title season when the Penguins went 14-0-1. YSU won the championship with a 28-14 victory over Boise State. Patton scored a critical touchdown in the game.

“I moved away a few years after college, but when I came back in 2014, Shawn lived right down the road from me,” Vecchione said. “Shawn was doing well. He overcame a lot. He was working hard every day for his kids.”

Teammates say Patton stepped onto campus at YSU as humble as as any other freshman and was eager to learn, even after a very successful career with the Red Devils in high school.

“As talented as Shawn was, he was equally humble,” said Lester Weaver, a former teammate and roommate of Patton at YSU. “He was already a high school football legend in the Mahoning Valley, but when he came to campus you never got that from Shawn. He worked hard.”

Patton stuck around his teammates during his three years away from the team before coming back for the 1994 season.

He was welcomed back by his teammates and had one of the best seasons by a running back in YSU history, rushing for 1,626 yards, including nine 100-yard games and 17 touchdowns.

“Without Shawn there would be no 1994 championship,” former YSU teammate and offensive lineman Ray Miller said.

Those who watched him said he encapsulated the Youngstown style of work ethic and football.

Patton would often have to work through some sluggish starts before he would break one, like his 55-yard touchdown run to give YSU a 28-7 lead in the fourth quarter against Boise State in a nationally televised title game.

“He had that Youngstown pride and that never-quit mentality that we established in the ’90s,” Vecchione said. “He was a Youngstown boy and had that Youngstown attitude.”

That Valley attitude can push the boundaries. And personalities on the biggest stages here get examined the most. That, too was Patton.

His time away from YSU stemmed from a campus-area bar melee. Later in life, he would serve time for drug charges. The night before his death, he had an OVI charge filed against him.

Patton had been working for the Youngstown Street Department and living in Austintown. His friends said his troubles were as packed away as his football feats. Those who contacted The Vindicator this week were shocked by his death.

As years past, friends were always willing to get back and help their former gridiron brother get back on his feet when he tried to rebuild his life.

“Every time he was out, he’d get back in touch with me,” Miller said. “And any time I’d go back [to Youngstown], he’d make it a point to get together. We had a bond that couldn’t be broken no matter what his issues were.

“He owned up to his issues, no matter what they were and he always got up. That’s a great trait in a man.”

Weaver said that while Patton may have made mistakes, those mistakes didn’t define his friend.

“I was never worried about Shawn because I know he was never out to harm others.”