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Not everyone is in a hurry to leave for the NFL.
Michigan junior quarterback Shea Patterson made official what's been trending for a few weeks now — he's returning to U-M for his senior season.
"I think my original plan was to come here and help the team out as much as I could,” Patterson, who transferred from Ole Miss a year ago, told The Detroit News. “The thoughts were maybe come out after one year, so I think there might have been some speculation there. At this point, I feel like everybody thinks I’m coming back. I'm excited to get that out there so they know.”
Patterson was 188-of-289 (65 percent) for 2,364 yards and threw for 21 touchdowns against five interceptions this fall. He said he decided about a week ago he was definitely coming back, and a 62-39 loss at Ohio State weighed heavily in his decision.
"I’ve been thinking about it for the past month, ever since after that game,” Patterson said. “I just thought to myself there’s no way in hell I’m leaving this place on that note. Regardless of a draft grade, whatever the case may be, I would never end my career with an opportunity to come back with a loss to that team. That's the one thing that ignited me. I think one of the biggest things that impacted me coming back – one of them – was that last game in Columbus.
“I just felt we worked so hard and had such a good season leading up to that game. I was more upset that I couldn’t do enough to get us a win. I love the guys so much and let down the Michigan fan base, and I just felt like we all did that that day. That just brought a lot of emotions. Anger. I think anger was the biggest one. I hated to lose and even more, I hated to lose to them, especially with what we had in front of us.”
Patterson said he and head coach Jim Harbaugh "get each other," another reason to return.
“I feel like I’d do anything for the guys,” Patterson said. “I feel like I’d lay everything on the line for this football team and this university because I love it here so much and I take pride in it. It is going to be fun. One more go around.”
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