This journey that has Patrick O’Connell’s next stop in Santa Clara, California, for Super Bowl LX seems amazing enough.

When you add in five months spent in Bismarck, North Dakota, well, it borders on the unbelievable. 

“That was obviously a while ago,” O’Connell said Wednesday from Seattle, where he is a linebacker for the Super Bowl-bound Seahawks. “I never thought then that this was the path I would have taken, especially to get here. It wasn’t even a thought of mine, playing in the NFL, mostly because I was baseball oriented back then; baseball was my first love. 

“Moving forward football became my first love and here we are.” 

O’Connell, a 2017 Glacier graduate, intended to play baseball and football at the University of Mary coming out of high school. Then the coaches for both sports were dismissed while he was in Bismarck, and the next thing you know he’s in Montana football coach Bobby Hauck’s office, committing to winter conditioning. 

“I remember going into his office and he said, ‘Are you aware of what you’re getting into? How hard it’s going to be?’ “ O’Connell said. “I just remember saying, ‘Yes, sir,’ and the rest is history.” 

He was the Grizzlies’ defensive scout team player of the year in 2018; by the end of the 2019 season he had a team-high 6.5 sacks and he was on his way. 

We’re skipping a lot, because walk-ons don’t often turn into All-Americans, which O’Connell was by the time he left the Griz in 2022. Point is, he credits the UM experience for getting him to Santa Clara on Feb. 8. 

“The adversity and ups and downs I had to go through while I was there,” he said. “Earning my way onto the team, working hard for every single snap that I was allowed to play, and then working every day to perfect my craft, obviously has helped me in these situations I’ve gone through in the NFL as well.” 

Staying ready 

On Nov. 29 O’Connell, who came to the Seahawks as a free agent in 2023, hit his high point as a professional. Named the starter at middle linebacker against the Tennessee Titans, he made nine tackles in Seattle’s 30-24 win in Memphis. 

“Ernest (Jones IV) had gotten hurt in the Washington game,” O’Connell said. “Tyrice Knight started the next game at Arizona, and I rotated with him that game. Then he ended up getting banged up as well. That’s when I got my chance. 

“There’s a lot going into that, obviously, but for me the whole season I was staying ready, so I didn’t have to get ready. That was my mentality all year: just staying ready. Then I went out there and made the most of it. It was fun to be out there playing defense again.” 

Afterward Seattle coach Mike Macdonald mentioned how O’Connell, activated from the practice squad at the midway point of the season, couldn’t be blocked in practice.  

The crux was that nobody was concerned that the Seahawks were on their third middle linebacker; they knew he could play.

O’Connell looks around the roster of the 16-3 Seahawks and sees a lot of that. That’s one of two factors he cited for the team’s current run. 

“From the time we got here in the summer where we had 100 percent turnout for OTAs (Organized Team Activities, which are painted as optional). Getting better, committing to one another. That’s pretty special; you don’t get that everywhere in the NFL. 

“Then guys are getting hurt and everyone who’s playing is playing well and doing their part. Everyone has the same mindset and same goals.” 

Exhibit A for O’Connell is Ty Okada, the free agent out of Montana State who has played in 17 games and made 64 tackles. “He started however many games (11) and stepped up,” O’Connell said. “Our weakside linebacker Drake Thomas; he wasn’t starting at the beginning of the year. 

“Then you look at guys on offense like (receiver) Jake Bobo. He was up and down, sometimes he was inactive, and was hurt a couple games. When his number’s called, he always answers.” 

Big Sky flavor 

Speaking of Okada, O’Connell lost at least one bet to the Bobcat related to the Brawl of the Wild. And Eastern Washington Eagle Cooper Kupp wouldn’t go there.  

“Me and Ty had a little friendly wager, unfortunately,” O’Connell said, without getting into specifics. “Coop wasn’t willing to do it because he knew they were going to lose — that ended up being a really good game, though.” 

Four Big Sky players dot Seattle roster (New England has five), including receiver and return man Rashid Shaheed out of Weber State. 

“It’s been awesome having him,” O’Connell said of Shaheed, who came to the Seahawks in a trade on Nov. 4. “Obviously one of the fastest guys in the league. Then you pair him with a bunch of guys on our special teams units that have been blocking their tails off, you see the results.” 

Shaheed has taken both a punt and a kickoff back for a touchdown since joining the Seahawks, and Tory Horton also has a punt return TD. O’Connell has been eyewitness to these TDs; since his activation, he’s played on all four of Seattle’s special teams — kickoff cover, kick return, punt cover and punt return — to the tune of 20-25 plays a game. 

Pretty amazing stuff for a Montana product who loved baseball back in 2017. Then came the meeting in Hauck’s office.  

From there until being named team captain in Week 14 against Atlanta has been kind of a blur. Suddenly he’s the first Montanan headed to the Super Bowl since Bozeman’s Brock Coyle, another Griz alum who wore the same No. 52 for the Seahawks for Super Bowl XLIX, against the same opponent. 

He can’t imagine getting to this point without his time at UM. 

“Just all the lifelong friendships I made have stuck with me as well,” O’Connell said. “Building that support system has been huge. I hear from so many guys that coached me or played alongside.  

“There are countless things I’ve taken from my time at UM that I’ve used along the way.”