| No. 34, 43 | |||||||||
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| Positions | Cornerback Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1960-10-21)October 21, 1960 (age 65) Bryan, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 193 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Yates (Houston, Texas) | ||||||||
| College | Kansas | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1984: undrafted | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Elvis Vernell "Toast"Patterson (born October 21, 1960) is an American former professionalfootball player who was adefensive back in theNational Football League (NFL) for theNew York Giants,San Diego Chargers,Los Angeles Raiders andDallas Cowboys. He playedcollege football for theKansas Jayhawks.
Patterson attendedJack Yates High School. He accepted a football scholarship from theUniversity of Kansas, where he began his career as alinebacker. As a senior, he was initially moved todefensive end, before being switched tocornerback.[1][2]
He was selected by theJacksonville Bulls in the tenth round (210th overall) of the1984 USFL draft.[3] He instead chose to sign as anundrafted free agent with theNew York Giants on May 17,1984. As a rookie, he played mainly onspecial teams.
In1985, he was named the starter at left cornerback.
In1986, he helped the team winSuper Bowl XXI.[4]
Patterson's nickname of "Toast" is arather unflattering one that was given to him byBill Parcells during his days as a Giant; the name comes from his knack for allowingwide receivers to make big plays while he was covering them. He was surprisingly waived on September 15,1987, after aMonday Night Football performance against theChicago Bears where he had to leave the game in two occasions with leg cramps and his coverage was badly beaten byWillie Gault (it was later claimed that the night before he was out partying).[5][6]
After the players went on a strike on the third week of the1987 season, those games were canceled (reducing the 16 game season to 15) and theNFL decided that the games would be played with replacement players. Patterson was signed to be a part of theSan Diego Chargers replacement team. He ended up playing well as the leftcornerback starter,[7] and was kept for the rest of the year, recording 8 additional starts. After three inconsistent seasons, he was left unprotected inPlan B free agency in1990.[8]
On April 2,1990, he signed as aPlan B free agent with theLos Angeles Raiders. He was waived on September 3 and later re-signed. He became aspecial teams standout and earned the nickname Ghost.[9] He was aspecial teams captain for three years.[10]
On October 13,1993, he was traded along with a seventh round pick (#216-Toddrick McIntosh) to theDallas Cowboys, in exchange for a fifth round (#159-Roosevelt Patterson) and a seventh round draft choice (#217-Rob Holmberg).[11]
In1993, he played mainly onspecial teams, registering 13special teams tackles (fourth on the team) and was a part of theSuper Bowl XXVIII Championship team.[12] He wasn't re-signed after the season.
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.