Cordarrelle Patterson

In 12 starts Patterson racked up a school-record 1,858 all-purpose yards (set by Reggie Cobb in 1987) to rank first in the Southeastern Conference, tied for 18th in NCAA.

Cordarrelle Patterson (born March 17, 1991), nicknamed "Flash", is an American football player for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL).

A versatile utility player, he plays running back, wide receiver, return specialist, and occasionally on defense.

Patterson played college football for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons before transferring to the Tennessee Volunteers, where he earned first-team All-SEC honors.

As a senior in 2008, he caught 75 passes for 944 yards with 18 touchdowns, leading his team to the State Class 4A Division II championship game, and was named All-state selection.

Patterson was also a three-year letterman in track & field at Northwestern High School.

He spent part of 2009 beginning a post-graduate year at North Carolina Tech Preparatory Christian Academy, but did not play football, and left prior to the spring to enroll at Hutchinson Community College.

In 2010, Patterson transferred to Hutchinson Community College in Hutchinson, Kansas, where he played junior college football and was recognized as a National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-American in 2010 and 2011.

He holds more than a dozen records at Hutchinson C.C., including career receiving yards (1,832), career receptions (113), career receiving touchdowns (24), career total touchdowns (36), career points (216), career kickoff return average (41.9), and career all-purpose yards (3,379).

In 2011, Patterson was a first-team All-American as a freshman, claiming the honors as a return specialist.

He totaled 645 yards on 21 combined kickoff and punt returns with three touchdowns, and also recorded 52 receptions for 908 yards and nine touchdowns.

As a sophomore, Patterson earned first-team All-American honors on offense and was named the 2011 Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Year after catching 61 passes for 924 yards and 15 touchdowns, carrying the ball 32 times for 379 yards and six touchdowns and averaging 48.2 yards on 10 kickoff returns with three more scores.

In addition to football, Patterson competed in track & field, where he clocked personal-bests of 10.33 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 21.19 seconds in the 200-meter dash at the Jayhawk Conference Championship.

He also competed in the long jump, and recorded a collegiate-best jump of 6.85 meters (22 ft, 4.5 in) at the Southwestern Invitational Championships.

On May 16, the Levelland Meet saw Patterson part of a 4x100-meter relay team that timed 40.32 (season-best).

At the Lawrence Meet, he helped the sprint medley 1,600-meter unit time in at 3:28.50.

Patterson was a highly touted recruit in 2012 coming out of Hutchinson Community College.

Rated as a 5-star prospect by 247Sports.com and the top JUCO player in the country, Patterson received scholarship offers from upper-tier Division I programs.

He ultimately chose to attend the University of Tennessee over LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, and others.

At Tennessee he played for Derek Dooley and the Tennessee Volunteers football team in 2012.

He made an immediate impact with his athletic ability and offensive versatility.

Primarily used as a wide receiver, he also excelled as a return specialist and all-purpose running back.

In the season opener, a 35–21 victory over North Carolina State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, he had six receptions for 93 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown to go along with two rushes for 72 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.

In the next game, a 51–13 victory over Georgia State, he showed his versatility with three receptions for 71 receiving yards, an 18-yard rush, and three kick returns for 108 net yards.

In the following game, a 37–20 loss to the rival Florida Gators, he had eight receptions for 75 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

After a limited role in the 47–26 victory over the Akron Zips, he had a 46-yard rushing touchdown in a 51–44 shootout loss to the rival Georgia Bulldogs on September 29.

In the 55–48 victory over Troy, he had nine receptions for 219 receiving yards and a touchdown.

On November 17, in a 41–18 loss to rival Vanderbilt, he had an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown.

In the regular season finale against the Kentucky Wildcats, he had four receptions for 88 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 37–17 victory.

Despite Tennessee's disappointing 5–7 record in the 2012 season, he scored at least one touchdown by reception, rush, kick return, and punt return, with 10 total touchdowns in 12 games.

He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

He has also been a member of the Oakland Raiders, the New England Patriots and the Chicago Bears.

During a game against the Green Bay Packers in 2013, Patterson tied the NFL record for longest play and set the NFL record for longest kick return with 109 yards, the longest possible.

He is considered one of the greatest return specialists in NFL history, with a league record nine kickoff return touchdowns in his career, six of which have been longer than 100 yards.

On the depth chart for the 2023 season, Patterson was listed under the position "Joker".

Patterson attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he played football, basketball, and ran track.

He was coached by Jimmy Wallace.

On January 9, 2013, Patterson, along with college teammates Tyler Bray, Justin Hunter, and Darrington Sentimore, announced his intention to leave college early and declare for the 2013 NFL Draft.

Patterson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) in the first round with the 29th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft in a draft-day trade with the New England Patriots; the Patriots received four draft picks (a second, third, fourth and seventh).

In the season-opener on September 8, Patterson caught his first NFL pass from quarterback Christian Ponder for a 10-yard gain and had two kicks returned for 54 yards.