Early years

Patterson attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he played football, basketball and ran track, and was teammates of current free agent quarterback Justin Worley. He was coached by Jimmy Wallace. 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. He spent 2009 at List of high schools in North Carolina Tech Christian Academy, but did not play football.

College career

Hutchinson C.C

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 of 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.

Patterson also competed in track & field during the spring of 2012, 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.

Tennessee

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. Patterson cited his relationship with Jesus and God as his main reason for choosing Tennessee.

Patterson received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Tennessee, where he played for 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. He scored at least one touchdown by reception, rush, kick return and punt return, with 10 total touchdowns in 12 games. In 12 starts, games, Patterson racked up an school-record 1,858 all-purpose yards (set by Reggie Cobb in 1987) to rank first in the SEC, tied for 18th in NCAA.

Professional career

Pre-draft

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.

Pre-draft measurables

Ht	Wt	Arm length	Hand size	40-yd dash	10-yd split	20-yd split	20-ss	3-cone	Vert	Broad	BP	Wonderlic
6 ft 1 3⁄4 in	216 lb	31 3⁄4 in	9 in	4.42 s	1.52 s	2.52 s	4.40 s	7.28 s	37 in	10 ft 8 in		11

Minnesota Vikings

Patterson was selected with the 29th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2013 NFL Draft in a draft-day trade with the New England Patriots; the Patriots received four draft picks.

2013 season

On September 15, Patterson scored his first NFL career touchdown by returning the opening kickoff for a 105-yard kick return touchdown. Patterson had an outstanding performance on special teams. He got the honors as NFC Special Teams Player of the month. On October 27 Patterson returned the opening kickoff 109-yards for a touchdown, an NFL record for the longest play ever. After Patterson's performance against the Green Bay Packers he was named NFC Special Teams Player of the week. Patterson leads the league with a 39.1 average on kick returns. On November 7 Patterson caught his first touchdown pass for 2 yards. On December 1 Patterson ran a touchdown for 33 yards helping the Vikings win in overtime. On December 8 Patterson got a touchdown reception for 79 yards and 5 catches with 141 yards. Patterson ended his rookie season with 45 catches, 469 yards and 5 touchdowns. On January 2, 2014, Patterson announced he made it into the Pro Bowl, filling in for Antonio Brown . On January 3, 2014, Patterson was named as a starter on the 2013 Associated Press All-Pro team as the Kick Returner

2014 season

Patterson suffered through a disappointing 2014 season under new head coach Mike Zimmer and offensive coordinator, Norv Turner. The team drafted rookie quarterback, Teddy Bridgewater in 2014, but Bridgewater and Patterson failed to create any chemistry. The second year receiver caught only 33 passes for 384 yards and one touchdown. His return yards also plummeted. Things got worse for Patterson who ended up losing his starting job to Charles Johnson, a practice squad player the team picked up from the Cleveland Browns. Johnson was drafted the same year as Patterson in the 7th round by the Green Bay Packers. By season's end, Patterson went from starter to fourth on the team's depth chart.

2015 season

Patterson had an opportunity to reacquire his starting position after Greg Jennings was released during the off-season. After newly signed veteran Mike Wallace established himself as the starter and rookie Stefon Diggs emerged as a premier receiver in Charles Johnson's absence, Patterson was dropped to fifth string and relegated to return duties. He would receive minimal play at wide receiver throughout the season, only amounting two receptions all season. However he did have two kick return touchdowns, the first against the Oakland Raiders and the second against the Seattle Seahawks .

NFL records

• Longest kickoff return touchdown: 109 yards (October 27, 2013)
• The first NFL player to have a 100-yard kickoff return touchdown, a 75-yard touchdown catch, and a 50-yard rushing touchdown in the same season. (2013)

Minnesota Vikings franchise records

• First Vikings wide receiver to rush for 100 yards in a game: 102 yards (September 7, 2014)
• Longest rushing TD by a wide receiver: 67 yards (September 7, 2014)
• Most kickoff return yards in a season: 1,393 (2013)
• Most kickoff return yards in a season by a rookie: 1,393 (2013)
• Highest kick return average in a season: 32.4 (2013)
• Highest kick return average in a career: 29.6 (2013-present)
• Most kickoff return touchdowns in a season: 2 (2013) (tied with Percy Harvin)
• Longest play by a Viking: 109 yards (October 27, 2013)

Career statistics

JUCO statistics

Year	Team	GP	Rushing					Receiving					Kick/Punt Returns
			Att	Yds	TD	Avg	Avg/G	Rec	Yds	TD	Avg	Avg/G	No.	Kick Yds	Punt Yds	TD
2010	Hutchinson CC	11	7	19	0	2.7	1.7	52	908	9	17.5	82.5	21	398	247	3
2011	Hutchinson CC	12	32	379	6	11.8	31.6	61	924	15	15.1	77.0	10	482	0	3
Total		23	39	398	6	10.2	17.3	113	1832	24	16.2	79.6	31	880	247	6

Division I statistics

Year	Team	GP	Rushing						Receiving						Punt Returns					Kick Returns
			Att	Yds	TD	Avg	Long	Avg/G	Rec	Yds	TD	Avg	Long	Avg/G	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
2012	Tennessee	12	25	308	3	12.3	67	25.7	46	778	5	16.9	58	64.8	4	101	25.3	1	81	25	671	26.8	1	98
Total		12	25	308	3	12.3	67	25.7	46	778	5	16.9	58	64.8	4	101	25.3	1	81	25	671	26.8	1	98

Minnesota Vikings

Games / Starts				Receiving					Rushing					Kick Returns					Fumbles
Season	Team	GP	GS	Rec	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Att	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Ret	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	Fum	Lost
2013	Minnesota	16	6	45	469	10.4	79T	4	12	158	13.2	50T	3	43	1,393	32.4	109T	2	0	0
2014	Minnesota	16	7	33	384	11.6	28	1	10	117	11.7	67T	1	34	871	25.6	51	0	1	1
2015	Minnesota	16	1	2	10	5.0	9	0	2	15	7.5	9	0	32	1019	31.8	101T	2	1	1
TOTAL		48	14	80	863	10.8	79T	5	24	290	12.1	67T	4	109	3283	30.1	109T	4	2	2

[ Source: Wikipedia ]