DeWayne Nelson Patmon (born April 25, 1979) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

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 ...

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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

from 1997 to 2000, winning a national championship and three

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

championships. Patmon played for the Giants from 2001 to 2002. He has also had small parts in a pair of Hollywood film productions.

Early years

Patmon attended Patrick Henry High School in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. In high school, he was a 6-foot-1, 185-pound free safety for Patrick Henry's football team and was selected as a first-team All-County player by the ''

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

''. As a senior in high school, he received numerous scholarship officers and narrowed his choices to Notre Dame,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and Michigan. In the end, he said his final decision was easy: "I've always been a Michigan fan. I really didn't like

South Bend South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...

and, although I figured I'd start right away at Texas, I decided I'd rather start three years at a school like Michigan." He later added, "As a kid, I wore all the Michigan stuff."

University of Michigan

Patmon enrolled at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1997. He played four years with the

Wolverines The wolverine ( , ; ''Gulo gulo''), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The wolverine ...

, from 1997 to 2000, and recorded 186 tackles, including 137 solo tackles. He is tied for fourth all-time-time at the Michigan with 11 career pass interceptions. As a freshman, he played in seven games, and started one game at

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

, for the undefeated national champion

1997 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 Big Ten Conference football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conferenc ...

's record-setting defense. He was credited by the ''

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'' for having played a "key role" along with William Peterson and James Whitley in Michigan's 21–16 win over

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

in the

1998 Rose Bowl The 1998 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game, part of the 1997–98 college bowl season, played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The 84th Rose Bowl Game, it featured top-ranked Michigan beating Washington State 21� ...

. When Michigan's 1998 co-captain Marcus Ray was suspended by the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

for associating with a

sports agent A sports agent is a legal representative (hence agent (law), agent) for professional sports figures such as athletes and coaches. They procure and negotiate employment and Testimonial, endorsement contracts for the principal (commercial law), at ...

, Patmon started 10 games at

strong safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free sa ...

for the 1998 team. After a 1998 victory over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the ...

, head coach

Lloyd Carr Lloyd Henry Carr Jr. (born July 30, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Michigan from 1995 through the 2007 season, replacing Gary Moeller. Under Carr, the Michigan Wolve ...

singled out Patmon for praise: "In particular, DeWayne Patmon really stepped up and played the finest game of his collegiate career. Patmon's interception on the one-yard line was a big play late in that ballgame as were some of his hits on receivers over the middle." Patmon continued to play at

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

for Michigan, starting eight games for the 1999 team and ten games for the 2000 team. The 1998 and 2000 teams were both

co-champions. Patmon's final game for Michigan was the

2001 Florida Citrus Bowl The 2001 Florida Citrus Bowl was a college football bowl game held on January 1, 2001 at the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida. The Michigan Wolverines, co-champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the Auburn Tigers, champions of the S ...

in which Michigan defeated Auburn, 31–28. In the Citrus Bowl, Patmon and sophomore safety Julius Curry each "made key interceptions to halt Auburn drives into Michigan territory."

New York Giants

Patmon went undrafted in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

and signed the following week with the

of the

as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

. During the 2001 pre-season, Patmon tried out with the Giants seeking a roster spot as the "gunner" on the punt coverage team. At the time, Patmon described the role of the " gunner" as follows: "The thing about it is, you've got to forget that it's one-on-two and just pick out one guy and beat him. It's a 10-second fight, one vs. two, and you're using your speed and strength to fight them off. You just try to get them off-balance, outrun them, and see if you can make a play on the ball." He earned a spot on the Giants as a safety. After playing his first game for the Giants against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Patmon flew with the team to Newark on September 11, 2001, arriving at 6:00 a.m., before the attack on the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

. Interviewed by the ''San Diego Union-Tribune'', Patmon said, "You can still see all the smoke in the sky from here ... Time is standing still right now. You don't think about the NFL or losing a game to the Broncos at a time like this ... A lot of people are suffering right now. It puts everything else in perspective." Patmon played for the Giants in 2001 and 2002, but was waived in March 2003.

Motion pictures

Following his football career, Patmon appeared as a football player in both the 2004 film '' Friday Night Lights'' and the 2005 film '' Two for the Money''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patmon, Dewayne 1979 births Living people American football defensive backs Michigan Wolverines football players New York Giants players Players of American football from San Diego