Patrick Amara brings a winning attitude to Pitt

Patrick Amara

The University of Pittsburgh football program added twenty three players to their recruiting class of 2014.  None of them have the unique story comparable to Philadelphia native Patrick Amara (West Catholic HS).  One day a book may be written about his life.  The first half of his life has been an admirable example of perseverance and faith.

“I have been getting ready for when I join Pitt in June.  My workouts are going great,” stated Amara.  “I’m working on every part and right now I’m pace to the type of condition I want to be in when I report.”

Amara, along with fellow class of 2014 Hez Trahan (Roman Catholic HS), have been diligently working with certified personal trainer Tony Beaty.  Beaty’s business, known as Body by Tony (bodybytony.com), has been working for over 20 years with a wide variety of athletes.  A number of his clientele are high profile professionals.    “Hez and I work out four days a week at Tony’s gym.  We work out alongside a lot of D1 players and players from the NBA and NFL.  Shady (Philadelphia Eagle and former Pitt standout LeSean McCoy) works out with us as well.”

“It’s been great.  We’re working out with some of the top guys in the country.  When I arrive at Pitt I plan on being in the best shape of my life.”

Amara refers to Beaty as his ‘God Dad’ for a good reason.  “My father and I were struggling when I was young.  At one point, we lived in a little apartment and our power was shut off.  We ran an extension cord out to the hallway to power a few items in our apartment,” he said.  “Someone eventually turned us in and we were thrown out with nowhere to go.  My father eventually went back to Africa and I was left by myself.”

Patrick’s mother left the family when he was young.  He’s still unaware of her whereabouts.  His father rapid departure to Africa left him parentless.  He spent a short amount of time with him before he ventured out on his own.  “Things didn’t work out with my guardian.  With both of my parents out of my life, there were times when I had no food, no roof over my head and no place to sleep.  It was rough.  I would go house to house and try to stay with friends.  I felt like a reject.  There were nights when I cried myself to sleep.”

Amara’s desperate situation changed when Tony Beaty entered his life.  Patrick, destitute and exhausted, entered his gym.  Beaty pressed him to divulge his family situation.  That conversation led to Beaty developing into a father figure and mentor.  “After I met Tony; that was all she wrote.  He has helped me in a number of ways including mentoring, coaching, meals, you name it,” he said.  “He helps me and I help him in return.  I want to bring as many athletes to him as possible.  The more exposure I get, the more exposure he’s going to get.”

If you think Amara’s childhood is interesting, his trip to Pitt’s summer prospect camp was equally as fascinating.  Patrick had strong interest in Pitt.  He raised enough money for a bus ticket.  Patrick left the Philadelphia bus terminal around 6:30 PM and arrived in Pittsburgh 1:30 AM.  Pitt offensive line coach Jim Hueber picked him up at the bus station.  With little sleep and a tremendous amount of determination, he performed admirably in front of defensive coordinator Matt House and cornerbacks coach Hank Poteat.  Amara was offered a scholarship prior to leaving camp.  He committed to Pitt shortly after.

When Pitt head coach Paul Chryst was personally offering Patrick his scholarship, he told him he liked him as ‘a player and a person’ and ‘good things happen to good people’.

He had an outstanding senior season.  Patrick played safety and wide receiver and led West Catholic High School to a 9-3 record and the Catholic League Class AA championship.  He compiled 43 tackles, 22 passes defended and 3 interceptions.  Amara was named Pennsylvania Football News first-team All-Class AA performer at defensive back and All-Southeastern Pennsylvania.  He was chosen to play in the prestigious Big 33 Classic All-Star game.

Amara’s dynamic personality and natural leadership abilities have already won over the Pitt fan base.  When asked if he felt he has taken a definitive leadership role with the 2014 recruiting class, he quickly stated, “I’m a born leader.  I have been a leader my entire life.  My father was a military leader in Africa (Sierra Leone in West Africa), it’s in my blood.  My middle name is Kwegor, it stands for ‘warrior’.”

“I try to talk to everyone in my class as much as possible.  We communicate all the time.  I’m trying to build team chemistry as much as possible.  We want to take Pitt to heights it hasn’t seen.”

“My class will make up a big portion of Pitt’s football roster,” he said.  “There’s a lot of youth on the squad that’s only going to get better.  Everyone in my class is really driven to succeed.  We’re young and we’re only going to get better.  You saw that last year with players like Tyler Boyd and James Conner.”

“Our game against Penn State in a few years will be epic.  My recruiting class will be upper classmen by then and we’re going to lead the way”

Patrick Amara with LeSean Shady McCoy

Amara has found a true role model and friend in former Panther great and current Philadelphia Eagle LeSean McCoy.  The two met on several occasions and McCoy took a strong interest in Patrick once he discovered that he was a future Panther.  “He’s been an amazing mentor to me.  Shady told me he’s going to try to come watch me in the Big 33 Classic,” he said.  “He has talked to me about what it’s like being a student-athlete at Pitt.  I respect everything he tells me.  He’s been there, done that and accomplished a lot.”

Amara has set a number of lofty goals for his time at Pitt.  “I want to start, I want to win an ACC championship and I want to be named All-ACC at my position.  That’s a given.  I would like to attend a few great bowls and win a National Championship as well.”

The second half of Amara’s book has yet to be written.  Based on his drive, work ethic and physical ability, I can only imagine there will be filled with stories of success.

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