Patrick Scales (born February 11, 1988) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

long snapper In American football, the long snapper (or deep snapper) is a center on special teams whose duty is to snap the football over a longer distance, typically around 15 yards during punts, and 7–8 yards during field goals and extra point attempt ...

for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Utah State Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. He has also been a member of the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

and

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

Early years

Scales played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

for at

Weber High School Weber High School is a Utah secondary school located in Pleasant View, Utah, about five miles north of Ogden. It serves the residents of Pleasant View, North Ogden, Harrisville, Huntsville, Eden, and Liberty. It is part of the Weber School ...

Pleasant View, Utah Pleasant View is a city on the northern edge of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States. The population was 7,979 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the Ogden, Utah, Ogden–Clearfield, Utah, Clearfield ...

. He was a second-team all-region selection for the Warriors. He saw time at

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

and long snapper. Scales also played

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

. He earned academic all-state and all-region honors.

College career

Scales played for the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spon ...

from 2007 to 2010. He was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2006.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Scales was rated as the 11th best long snapper in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

by NFLDraftScout.com.

Baltimore Ravens

Scales signed with the

on July 27, 2011, after going undrafted in the 2011 NFL Draft. He was released by the Ravens on September 3, 2011. He signed with the Ravens on May 1, 2012. Scales was released by the team on August 26, 2012.

Miami Dolphins

Scales was signed by the

on April 8, 2013. He was released by the Dolphins on May 15, 2013.

New York Jets

Scales signed with the

on July 23, 2013. He was released by the Jets on August 26, 2013.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Scales signed a futures deal with the

on January 6, 2014. He was released by the Buccaneers on April 9, 2014.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

Scales was signed by the Ravens on December 18, 2014. He made his NFL debut on December 21, 2014, against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

. He was released by the Ravens on August 31, 2015.

Chicago Bears

Scales signed with the

on November 28, 2015. On March 4, 2017, he signed a one-year extension with the Bears. On August 28, 2017, he was waived/injured by the Bears and placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

after suffering a torn ACL in the team's third preseason game. On March 27, 2018, Scales re-signed with the Bears. On April 2, 2019, Scales re-signed with the Bears on a one-year deal. Scales re-signed with the Bears on March 26, 2020. He re-signed with the team to another one-year contract on April 7, 2021. On March 15, 2022, Scales signed a one-year, $1.27 million contract extension with Chicago. He signed a contract extension on March 10, 2023, effectively making him the longest tenured Bears player.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scales, Patrick Living people 1988 births People from North Ogden, Utah Sportspeople from the Salt Lake City metropolitan area Players of American football from Louisville, Kentucky Players of American football from Utah American football long snappers Utah State Aggies football players Baltimore Ravens players Chicago Bears players Miami Dolphins players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players