Patterson is originally from Sacramento, California, but while visiting some family in Los Alamitos, California in between 8th and 9th grades, he decided to stay down there so that he could play football at Los Alamitos High School. He had decided this only after attending a summer football camp with his cousin Jorrel and enjoying the game very much. Patterson became a very good player even though he had never played at all prior to the summer camp. As a junior in high school, Patterson was named to the Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team second-team and All-Sunset League first-team honors. In his senior year, he earned Prep Star All-American, SuperPrep All-Far West, Prep Star All-Western Region, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best of the Westsecond team, Los Angeles Times All-Orange County, Orange County Register All-Orange County first-team, Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team first-team and All-Sunset League honors.
College career
defensive line coachEd Orgeron recruited Patterson based on raw talent, and fought to sell the recruit on first-year head coachPete Carroll, who eventually relented. For the USC Trojans, Patterson was a first team All-American. Patterson played four years and helped win two National Championships with USC. He started for three years and played mainly as a nose tackle, but also a defensive tackle. During his senior year, Patterson was the subject of double coverage by many other teams. He was nicknamed "Baby Sapp" because of the similar playing style to that of former NFL defensive tackle Warren Sapp; however, Patterson has since developed and is unique with his style of play now. Patterson was a sociology major at USC.
Professional career
Philadelphia Eagles
Patterson was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the 31st overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft out of the University of Southern California. He started the 2005 season as second string, but started his first ever NFL game on September 25, 2005 when starter Darwin Walker was injured. When Walker returned to the lineup four games later, Patterson went back to second string. On December 11, 2005, Patterson was moved permanently to the starting left defensive tackle position and remains there. In 2005, Patterson was regarded as one of the best rookie defensive linemen in the NFL. He recorded the most tackles in the season out of all the Eagles' defensive line and he had more sacks than any other Eagles' defensive tackle or rookie defensive tackle in the NFL. Patterson will go down in Eagles lore for having the longest fumble recovery in team history. On the afternoon of September 24, 2006, Patterson picked up a fumble on the Eagles' own 2-yard line and ran 98 yards for a touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers. On November 2, 2006, Patterson signed a 7-year contract extension through the 2016 season. During training camp before the 2011 season he collapsed and suffered a seizure. Patterson was diagnosed with cerebral arteriovenous malformation. He still started in the first 15 games of the season, missing the final game due to influenza. He underwent brain surgery on January 26, 2012, but he was not medically cleared to participate in training camp in 2012. He was placed on the active/non-football illness list on July 22, 2012. Patterson was released on February 25, 2013.
At USC, Patterson met his eventual fiancee, Bianca, who was a resident adviser for his student housing. One of his college roommates, Jonathan Abrams, is now a journalist for The New York Times.
