Elvis Vernell "Toast" Patterson (born October 21, 1960) is a former

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 ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who played in 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 ...

for the

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

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Los Angeles Raiders The Los Angeles Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Los Angeles from 1982 to 1994 before relocating back to Oakland, California, where the team played from its inaugural 1960 season to the 1981 season and then agai ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. 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 ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

Early years

Patterson attended

Jack Yates High School Jack Yates Senior High School is a public high school located at 3650 Alabama Street, very near Texas Southern University, in the historic Third Ward in Houston, Texas, United States. Yates High School handles grades nine through twelve and is par ...

. He accepted a football scholarship from the

, where he began his career as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

. As a senior, he was initially moved to

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 ...

, before being switched to

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

Professional career

New York Giants

He was selected by the

Jacksonville Bulls The Jacksonville Bulls were a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were members of the United States Football League (USFL) during its final two seasons, 1984 and 1985. They played their home games in the Gator ...

in the tenth round (210th overall) of the

1984 USFL Draft The 1984 USFL Draft was the second collegiate draft of the United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played ...

. He instead chose to sign as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

on May 17,

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

. As a rookie, he played mainly on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. In

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, he was named the starter at left cornerback. In

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, he helped the team win

Super Bowl XXI Super Bowl XXI was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

. Patterson's nickname of "Toast" is a rather unflattering one that was given to him by

Bill Parcells Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941) is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 ...

during his days as a Giant; the name comes from his knack for allowing wide receivers to make big plays while he was covering them. He was surprisingly waived on September 15,

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, after a

Monday Night Football ''ESPN Monday Night Football'' (abbreviated as ''MNF'' and also known as ''ESPN Monday Night Football on ABC'' for simulcasts) is an American live television broadcast of weekly National Football League (NFL) games currently airing on ESPN, AB ...

performance against 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 ...

where he had to leave the game in two occasions with leg cramps and his coverage was badly beaten by

Willie Gault Willie James Gault (born September 5, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Raiders. Considered one of the f ...

(it was later claimed that the night before he was out partying).

San Diego Chargers

After the players went on a strike on the third week of the 1987 season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and the

NFL 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 major ...

decided that the games would be played with replacement players. Patterson was signed to be a part of the

replacement team. He ended up playing well as the left

starter, and was kept for the rest of the year, recording 8 additional starts. After three inconsistent seasons, he was left unprotected in

Plan B free agency In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Los Angeles Raiders

On April 2,

, he signed as a Plan B free agent with the

. He was waived on September 3 and later re-signed. He became a

standout and earned the nickname Ghost. He was a

captain for three years. On October 13,

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

, he was traded along with a seventh round pick (#216-

Toddrick McIntosh Toddrick Poole McIntosh (January 22, 1972 – September 5, 2014) was a National Football League (NFL) defensive end for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints. He played college football at Florida State. Early years McI ...

) to the

, in exchange for a fifth round (#159-Roosevelt Patterson) and a seventh round draft choice (#217-

Rob Holmberg Robert Anthony Holmberg (born June 5, 1971) is a former American football linebacker who played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Rob played High School football for Mt. Pleasant Area School, located in Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylva ...

Dallas Cowboys

, he played mainly on

, registering 13

tackles (fourth on the team) and was a part of the

Super Bowl XXVIII Super Bowl XXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for ...

Championship team. He wasn't re-signed after the season.

Personal life

After his successful career as an NFL defensive back, he soon found success in coaching. In 2005 Patterson coached a middle school football team, the Lakewood Cougars, to a winning 5-2 season. In 2009, he was the head coach for Northeast H.S. (KCMO) Placing 1st in the division (5A)-Interscholastic League, Awarded Coach of the year by the Kansas City Chiefs Alumni (Kimble Anders) along with his Assistant Coaching staff. Head Coach-Elvis Patterson / Assist. Head Coach-Gregory Martin Jr. (Greg Martin). Elvis Patterson defense coordinator, Gregory Martin, Jr. offensive coordinator came together and these coaches gave Northeast their first All-American/ All-State player (Kawann Parrish) along with two candidates for All-American, and their first winning season in twenty years. Regular season (3-4), Districts (0-3) due to technicalities. In 2010, Elvis established a sporting events company, where he is CEO/Commissioner and head coach. His Assistant Head Coach/Co-Commissioner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Elvis 1960 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football cornerbacks American football safeties Kansas Jayhawks football players New York Giants players San Diego Chargers players Los Angeles Raiders players Dallas Cowboys players National Football League replacement players