Harold (Hal) Patterson

"Prince Hal" is widely regarded as one of the best receivers in the history of the CFL.  Patterson played 14 years in the CFL, and in 9 of those season he averaged more than 20 yards a catch.  He broke in with Montreal in 1954 and and combined with the great arm of Sam "The Rifle" Etcheverry to make a very potent combination.  In 1954, in his rookie season Patterson had 29 catches for 709 yards and an excellent 24.4 yard average.  He upped his receptions to 44 in 1955 and then to a phenomenal 88 for 1914 yards and 21.6 yard average in 1956. Those numbers are even more impressive when you consider it was only a 14 game season.  That remains to this day, when the game has been transformed much more into a passing game, as one of the great years by a receiver in CFL history.    Injuries dogged Patterson in the next two years as he managed only 18 and 12 catches, but he rebounded in 1960, his last season in Montreal for 61 catches and 1121 yards.  The trading of Patterson to Hamilton was like many things in Patterson's career, one of the biggest shocks in CFL history.  Injuries, age, and a less pass orientated offense in Hamilton prevented Patterson from once more reaching the heights he scaled in Montreal, but he still won All-Canadian honours in 1962, 1963 and 1964(the first years they were selected) with avarage yards per reception over 20 yards in each of those three seasons.

Any biography of Patterson would not be complete without pointing out he as an outstanding two way player early in his career.  Patterson recorded 27 interceptions in his first six season, including 8 in his rookie seasn and 7 in 1955 which led the East.  In fact Patterson was an East defensive All-Star in his first 5 seasons from 1954 to 1958. Offensively, he had 8 East All-Star selections in 1956, 1957, 1960 and 1962 through 1966*.  As mentioned previously, Patterson also had three All-Canadian selections (1962-64) and was named the Outstanding Player in the CFL for his magnificant 1956 season.  Patterson made it to three Grey Cups with the Montreal Alouettes, unfortunately losing all three time (1954-56) to Edmonton.  With Hamilton, the Tiger-Cats went to the Gray Cup ins six of his seven season.  Patterson suffered two more Grey Cup losses in his first two seasons in Hamilton (1961 and 1962) to Winnipeg before finally hitting the win column over BC in 1963.  Hamilton played BC again in the 1964 game, but this time the Lions came away with the win.  Hamilton then won the cup in 1965 and 1967 in Patterson's last season. Patterson finished his career with 460 catches for 9473 yards and 64 receiving touchdowns.

Love of football runs in the Patterson family as his nephew Gary Patterson is the Head Coach at Texas Christian University (TCU).  In 2008, Patterson's #75 was retired by the Alouettes during Grey Cup festivities. Hal Patterson was named to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1971. Hal Patterson passed away on November 21, 2011.

*The source for the all-star selections is the 2007 CFL Facts & Figures - the 1965 listing is probably not correct as Patterson only played 4 games with 3 catches.

Hal Patterson in Wikipedia

Hal Patterson in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame

Patterson wins Jeff Russell Trophy - November 1, 1956

Patterson In Team Picture of 1956 Montreal Als - November 20, 1956

Patterson Wins Scoring Championship - November 12, 1957

Profile of Hal Patterson on the Montreal Website

Profile of Hal Patterson on the Hamilton Website

Hal Patterson on CFL-Scrapbook

Alouettes Retire #75 For Hal Patterson - November 21, 2008

Prince Hal Given Royal Treatment As His Number Is Retired - November 22, 2008

YouTube Video Of Hal Patterson's Induction In the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame - 2009

Alouette Legend Passes Away - November 21, 2011

Ticats Mourn Death of Hal Pattgerson - November 21, 2011

 

GP, Rushing, Receiving and Points
Year Team GP TC Yds Avg TD Long Rec Yds Avg TD Long PTS
1954 MON 12 1 6 6 0 6 29 709 24.4 5 105 35
1955 MON 12 0 0 0 0 0 44 939 21.3 10 84 55
1956 MON 14 3 125 41.7 0 60 88 1914 21.8 12 109 78
1957 MON 13 31 268 8.7 4 22 45 919 20.4 7 88 78
1958 MON 8 17 237 13.9 1 42 18 252 14 0 36 6
1959 MON 4 0 0 0 0 0 12 212 17.7 1 40 0
1960 MON 14 6 23 3.8 0 9 61 1121 18.4 7 98 42
1961 HAM 8 0 0 0 0 0 20 452 22.6 3 65 18
1962 HAM 12 2 4 2 0 4 39 881 22.6 6 95 36
1963 HAM 14 0 0 0 0 0 41 841 20.5 3 84 18
1964 HAM 14 0 0 0 0 0 31 657 21.2 6 86 36
1965 HAM 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 75 25 1 50 6
1966 HAM 14 0 0 0 0 0 28 470 16.8 3 62 18
1967 HAM 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 31 31 0 31 0

 

Kickoff and Punt Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long PR Yds Avg TD Long
1954 MON 7 239 34.1 0 95 1 14 14 0 14
1955 MON 14 470 33.6 1 94 10 91 9.1 0 20
1956 MON 28 771 0 28 105 2 48 24 0 28
1957 MON 24 640 27 0 54 0 35 0 0
1958 MON 11 291 26.5 0 37 1 47 47 0 47
1959 MON 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0
1960 MON 9 180 20 0 31 0 0 0 0 0
1961 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

Fumbles
Year Team F FL
1954 MON

1955 MON

1956 MON

1957 MON

1958 MON

1959 MON

1960 MON

1961 HAM

1962 HAM

1963 HAM

1964 HAM 0
1965 HAM 1
1966 HAM 0
1967 HAM 0

Fumbles were not tracked in the East until 1964.

 

Interceptions and Fumble Returns
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long FR Yds Avg TD Long FF
1954 MON 8 80 10 0 24 0 0 0 0 0
1955 MON 7 95 13.6 26 0 0 0 0 0 0
1956 MON 5 61 12.2 0 50 0 0 0 0 0
1957 MON 4 45 11.3 0 15 0 0 0 0 0
1958 MON 2 36 18 0 20 0 0 0 0 0
1959 MON 1 11 11 0 11 0 0 0 0 0
1960 MON 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1961 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1962 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1963 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1964 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
1965 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1966 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1967 HAM 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

1963 OPC

Hal Patterson from 1956

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson

Hal Patterson
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