Reality officially set in for two Yelm High School football standouts, Brayden Platt and Isaiah Patterson, as the two put ink to paper and each signed his National Letter of Intent (NLI) on Wednesday, Dec. 20 to officially join their respective college athletic programs.
Platt, a 6-foot, 2-inch, 240-pound inside linebacker and All American, will attend the University of Oregon in Eugene, while Patterson, a 6-foot, 3-inch, 240-pound inside linebacker and edge rusher, will attend the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). The linebacker duo signed their NLI’s in front of family, friends, coaches, teachers and community members inside YHS’s gymnasium.
The Oregon Ducks commit, who pledged to the university on Sept. 4, said the opportunity to sign with his Tornados teammate Patterson meant a lot to him.
“Isaiah and I began to get really close after he transferred after our sophomore year. We both have a similar goal in wanting to go to the NFL and to be the best we can be,” Platt said. “I feel like we really grew our connection through working together and wanting to become better together.”
Aside from enjoying the relationship he has with Patterson, Platt said he was thrilled to suit up and take the field each week with his teammate.
“It was really fun playing with Isaiah on the field. He made my job a lot easier,” Platt said. “I trusted that everyone else did their job, and I knew that he’d always be there and be a dog at what he does.”
Platt will play in NBC’s high school All-American Bowl at 10 a.m. on Jan. 6. Following the contest featuring the nation’s top high school football recruits, Platt will immediately fly to Eugene to begin his tenure as an Oregon Duck.
“I feel like early enrolling gives me a huge competitive edge. I’ll get down there early and learn the scheme and defense, which I feel will help me out better,” Platt said. “I’m just looking forward to getting to work and getting to football.”
For Platt, his relationships built with Oregon’s head coach Dan Lanning and defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi factored heavily in his decision to commit and sign with the Ducks.
“I love those guys. They played a huge part in the recruitment process,” Platt said. “They came down two weeks ago for the home visit, which was a lot of fun.”
Patterson said last week that he appreciated signing his NLI with Platt.
“Brayden has really became a brother to me in these last two years that I’ve been here. He’s constantly been here for me whenever I needed it,” Patterson said. “It was cool being able to share that moment with him, and I wish nothing but the best for him at Oregon. I hope we both can conquer the Big Ten.”
Patterson said he tried to enjoy and soak in the moment over the last two or three days before signing with UCLA. He said when he received his letter, he kept reading it and seeing in writing that his tuition, room and board is 100% covered.
“Not coming from a lot and being able to go to college for free at a school like UCLA means the world to me,” he said.
He said the reality that he would be living out his Division I dreams began to sink in after coach Ethan Young, UCLA director of player personnel, reached out to him and provided details about what early move-in day will look like in January. Like Platt, Patterson will enroll early. He’ll arrive in Los Angeles on Jan. 1, move into his dorm on Jan. 5, and begin school and football activities on Jan. 8.
“Prior to that, I had a phone call with (linebackers) coach (Ken) Norton where we talked about my plan for the future. That was also a very surreal moment, realizing this is all coming to a head,” Patterson said. “My relationship with coach Norton is great. It dates all the way back to the [Pacific Lutheran University] football camp before my junior year. That’s the first time I met him. In January of my junior year, I received my offer from coach Norton, and from that point on, it was an instant connection. We talk at least a couple times a week, and he really made it clear of what my future can be at UCLA.”
Patterson, who will learn all four linebacker positions at UCLA – including edge — said he’s thankful to enroll early because he thinks his January enrollment will ensure his success.
“Enrolling early gives me a huge edge, especially as a linebacker — having to know all the positions on the field and their responsibilities, roles and how they fit within the scheme and how I fit within the scheme,” Patterson said. “It’s going to be really good for me to get there early and get in the playbook. Getting in the weight program for those first nine months will be huge, too. I’ll be a different player in six months because of this early enrollment.”
Yelm football’s linebackers coach Daniel Caldwell said having athletes of Platt and Patterson’s caliber has made his job easier.
Platt, a four-year defensive starter and star running back at Yelm, and Patterson, who transferred from Skyview in Vancouver after his sophomore season, played both inside and outside linebacker for Yelm in his two years as a Tornado.
“The fun part about coaching guys like Brayden and Isaiah is it elevates not only the players around them, but it elevates us as coaches. We always want to coach at the highest level possible, and when the ceiling is set so high by those two, we aim to coach at that high of level. It’s a lot of fun, and it really challenges us to get out of our comfort zone and push our ability, skill set and knowledge as coaches,” Caldwell said. “We’re definitely blessed to have them out there and to be able to have them in the linebacker room every week.”
Caldwell said it is rare to have on the same team two players with as much physicality and athleticism like Platt and Patterson do. He added that, whether they played two quarters in a blowout or four quarters in an intense playoff game, the duo always gave maximum effort.
“Apart from the physicality and athleticism that they brought to the team, which was the obvious part, I think the part that goes unnoticed the most is their brotherly bonds, the competitiveness, and just the personalities they bring,” Caldwell said. “Those aspects will be missed just as much as the athletic piece. They’re both such nice, gentle giants, always smiling and having fun. They truly love what they do, and when you get kids like that out there, it brings a lot of fun to the team.
“I think everybody knows that they’ll obviously be missed,” Caldwell continued. “Talent like that doesn’t come along too often at the high school level, and we’ve been blessed to have them at the same time. As a linebackers coach, it’s an embarrassment of riches. It makes my job fun. Hopefully with the impression that these two left on the program, next year’s kids will step up and fill that void, and we’ll continue to compete at the level we have.”
