AUBURN, Ala. – Part of a three-generation Auburn family, Cassie Patterson's favorite football team was never in question. Her favorite player? Cassie made that choice all on her own.
Cassie, who has Down Syndrome, attends the Lowe Center in Huntsville, Alabama, the hometown of former Auburn star Kerryon Johnson.
Cassie's younger sister, Mary Grace, graduated from Auburn University's School of Nursing in the spring, around the time Cassie visited Kerryon's high school alma mater for its Spiritual Emphasis Day.
"We talked about Kerryon a lot," Mary Grace said. "We loved him. We knew of him from back home. As soon as I started going to school at Auburn, all Cassie wanted to know was, 'Did Auburn win?'
"Cassie doesn't doesn't really keep up with the sport, but she just loved Kerryon, and she thought he was the best player on Auburn's team."
Kristi Smith, the nurse at Kerryon's former high school, shot a video of Cassie expressing her affinity for Kerryon, which Johnson later shared to his 95,000 Instagram followers, writing "Auburn will forever have the best fans!!!!"
Auburn will forever have the best fans!!!!
A post shared by Kerryon Johnson (@kj_hey) on May 1, 2019 at 12:31pm PDT
"We just thought that was amazing and wonderful," said Mary Grace, who commented on Kerryon's post, thanking Johnson for sharing the video and telling him Cassie would be thrilled to know he saw it.
"Next thing I know, I have an Instagram message from the vice president of marketing of the Detroit Lions," Mary Grace said. "She said they saw Kerryon share the video and saw our comments. They thought it was an awesome story and they would love to have us come up for a game.
"Over the course of a few months, this amazing opportunity took form."
In September, the Lions flew the Patterson family to Detroit for the team's home opener. Before the game Cassie met her favorite player.
"Cassie, look who's coming over here," Mary Grace said to her sister. "You know who that is?" She said, 'It's Kerryon Johnson!'
"Everyone was so extremely nice and kind, and Kerryon was so great. He and Cassie hit it off. Cassie was so thrilled. We asked her afterward, 'Did you know you were going to get to do that?' She said, 'No, I did not.'
"We had such a great time. Still, honestly, I can't even believe that it actually happened, that we got invited to go up there. It was so much fun."
Just a couple of bama kids having fun!!!!! https://t.co/Qqz17J79bv
— Kerryon Johnson (@AyeyoKEJO) September 16, 2019
With the Pattersons cheering from the stands, Johnson scored a touchdown in the Lions' 13-10 win over the Chargers.
After the game, Kerryon posted on Instagram about meeting Cassie:
"You all may remember Cassie from a few weeks ago but she was able to get up to the game today and we got to meet!!! No doubt in my mind she was the reason we won! War eagle all the way to Detroit"
A post shared by Kerryon Johnson (@kj_hey) on Sep 15, 2019 at 5:14pm PDT
Back in Birmingham at her new nursing job, Mary Grace Patterson marvels at the kindness the hometown hero she used to cheer for at Jordan-Hare Stadium showed to her sister.
"I think he is so humble, and such a down-to-earth guy," she said. "He still loves caring about his Auburn fans and is still a part of the Auburn family. My whole family, we are diehard Auburn people. Obviously, Kerryon still cares about the Auburn family. I really think that was awesome that he took the time to share that on his own personal social media account."
Kerryon Johnson with the Patterson family. Photo courtesy of the Detroit Lions
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer