Realizing a Dream: Glacier High Grad to Seahawks

It didn’t take long after the NFL Draft ended Saturday before Montana’s Patrick O’Connell learned where he would get his shot at professional football.

Less than an hour after the draft wrapped up in Kansas City, O’Connell was on the phone with the Seattle Seahawks, his favorite team growing up.

The result of that call was a childhood dream come true. The Kalispell native signed as an undrafted free agent with his favorite team as a kid.

“It’s pretty crazy, honestly, because I grew up my whole life being a Seahawks fan, and now it all comes full circle,” O’Connell said.

“Obviously, I would have liked to hear my name called, but I got my foot in the door now, and I’m excited to get to work. That’s what I like to do is put in the work necessary, and that’s what I’m going to do in Seattle.”

O’Connell, another in a long line of Grizzly greats to start his career as a walk-on only to earn a place in the NFL, was one of the best linebackers to ever suit up for Montana.

He was a top-3 finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award as a junior, was named to four different All-America teams in his career and was a two-time first-team All-Big Sky pick.

He finished his career at UM ranked among the all-time career leaders in both sacks and TFLs, with 28.5 sacks and 45 TFLs. His 45 tackles for loss tied him with the great Kroy Biermann and Josh Buss at No. 4 all-time in program history. He also finished his career with 28.5 career sacks, placing him at No. 6 all-time for the Grizzlies. With 242 career stops, he also finished among the top 40 UM tacklers of all time.

In 2021 he was named the team’s Steve Carlson MVP award winner and was named defensive MVP as a senior. He also earned the Doug Betters Golden Helmet award for the team’s hardest hitter in 2021 and the Tony Barbour Award in 2022, given annually to the player “who best exemplifies outstanding practice habits and makes an unselfish contribution to the betterment of the Grizzly Football Team.”

Following the 2022 season O’Connell was selected to play in the Hula Bowl All-Star game in Orlando where he put in a standout performance for Team Kai, making a team-high four solo tackles, all in the first half, a total tied for the second most in the entire game.

O’Connell also had a strong day for the scouts at Montana’s pro day in early April. His 38.5-inch vertical would have tied Vanderbilt’s Anfernee Orjii for the highest at the combine among linebackers and would be a top-30 result among all the participants.

His pro shuttle time of 4.28 would also have been the second-fastest among linebackers and top-20 among all players at the combine, while his 6.97 in the 3-cone drill would also have been the second-fastest time among linebackers and a top-20 overall result.

His 40 time of 4.65 would have been a top-15 result among linebackers, and his broad jump of 10-foot two-inches would have been top seven in the group as well.

O’Connell is the first Grizzly to sign as a free agent with the Seahawks since fellow linebacker Brock Coyle signed in 2014, eventually going on to play for Seattle in a Super Bowl. Coyle reached out to O’Connell on social media, saying “Congrats Pat! Go compete!! Proud of you! #GoHawks #GoGriz.” In total, seven different Grizzlies have signed to play with the Seahawks out of college.

Seattle has not yet announced dates for its first rookie camp, but OTA workouts are set to be held May 22, May 24-25, May 30, June 1-2, and June 12-14. The first mandatory minicamp is set for June 6-8.