Report: Oklahoma's Pat Fields Will Play Football at Stanford in 2022
Count senior safety Pat Fields among those entering the NCAA transfer portal.
Fields said in early December the 2021 football season and Oklahoma’s Alamo Bowl game against Oregon would be “my last go-round.”
Then on Dec. 30, the day after the Sooners beat the Ducks in San Antonio, Fields announced that beginning Jan. 3, he would “start my journey to complete a Master’s in management science and engineering at Stanford University on a full academic scholarship.”
Fields, who received an $18,000 post-graduate scholarship as a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy — college football’s “academic Heisman” — never clarified whether he would or would not play football in graduate school. It had been widely assumed that he would step away from the game to pursue more postgraduate studies.
But according to a story posted on Dec. 30 on the Stanford Rivals website, Fields will be playing for the Cardinal in 2022.
Fields told SI Sooners on Dec. 7 that he “would love to” play for new OU coach Brent Venables, but said, “I’m done after this one (bowl game).”
According to Rivals, Fields talked with Stanford director of football operations Matt Doyle on Dec. 30 “and received confirmation that he will be playing on the team next year.”
At the National Football Foundation event in Las Vegas on Dec. 7, Fields told SI Sooners that he wanted to go to “a Harvard or a Stanford” to complete his master’s degree.
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The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Fields was a three-year starter and two-time captain as well as a two-time Academic All-American. He finishes his OU career with 122 career tackles, seven tackles for loss, two quarterback sacks, one interception (this season), one fumble recovered, 10 passes defensed and a memorable 100-yard runback of a blocked extra point this season against Nebraska.
His departure gives Oklahoma 17 starters or former starters who are leaving the program or have announced plans to enter the transfer portal with remaining eligibility.
After he was named most outstanding defensive player of the Alamo Bowl, Fields, who grew up in Tulsa and played at Union High School, reflected on his college football experience in Norman.
“I think my four years has been one heck of a journey,” he said. “I didn't see myself doing any of this. Honest to God. I never even saw myself playing Division I. I always just put my head down and worked. I always did things with integrity and honesty, and it just so happened that God chose to bless me with these accolades and this recognition.
“It's been an amazing journey. I can't say thank you enough to everybody here at OU, like, genuinely from the bottom of my heart, and I think I try to make that shown every single day in our interactions and in our conversations.”
