He was a starting quarterback in the SEC. Now he's a missionary.

Patrick Towles, the former University of Kentucky quarterback who transferred to Boston College to finish his career, announced Tuesday he had quit his job at a local bank to become a missionary.

In a blog post on FaithandAthletics.com, Towles wrote about his decision and how he came to it.

“I don’t think anyone who decides to quit their job, leave their home, or shelf the expectations that they had for their life to be all the way sane either,” Towles wrote. “That being said, there were specific moments in my life that led me here. Some were substantial, some were very minor, but all were vital.”

Towles recounted his path to becoming a more devoted Catholic and his interaction with his new employer the Fellowship of Catholic University Students and its Varsity Catholic division.

Varsity Catholic reaches out to college students to help them with their faith and their lives. Towles said his efforts with FOCUS as a player over the last few years, especially mission trips St. Lucia and Jamaica, helped him realize what he wanted to do.

“Alongside the Missionaries of the Poor we cared for mentally and physically disabled men the whole week,” Towles wrote. “Most of the day I was in the ICU, caring for the men whose Earthly future looked grim. I had never encountered Jesus like I did when I was with those men.”

Towles, who said he’s given up his pursuit of an NFL career, most recently was named a business development associate at Traditional Bank in Lexington after previously working at a branch of the bank in Paris.

He volunteered with the Paris High School football team last season.

Towles arrived at UK as one of its most-celebrated recruits in program history. He’d led Highlands — one of the state’s premier high school football programs — to three consecutive state titles and a 44-1 record as a starting quarterback from 2009-2011. He wound up at Boston College after deciding to transfer upon his graduation from UK, and finished his college career with 6,829 passing yards (5,099 at UK) and 36 touchdowns (24 at UK).

Herald-Leader staff writer Josh Moore contributed to this article.

This story was originally published May 9, 2018 at 6:10 PM with the headline "He was a starting quarterback in the SEC. Now he's a missionary.."