Jerome Pathon (born December 16, 1975) is a South African-born Canadian former

gridiron football Gridiron football ( ),"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' ...

player who was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for eight seasons in 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

Washington Huskies The Washington Huskies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Washington, located in Seattle. The school competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) N ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1997. Selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft, he played in the NFL for the Colts,

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

, and

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. After his playing career, he was a position coach for both the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

and

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

football teams.

Early life

Pathon was a student of Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver, Canada from 1987 to 1992 and attended

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

in Wolfville, Nova Scotia for one year (1993–94), where he had 44 receptions and 868 receiving yards and was named

Atlantic University Sport Atlantic University Sport (AUS; ) is a regional membership association for universities in Atlantic Canada which assists in co-ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information, schedules, re ...

(AUS) and Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU) Football Rookie of the Year.

University of Washington

Pathon was a standout wide receiver for the University of Washington Huskies, playing three seasons from 1995 to 1997. His 73 receptions his senior year still ranks fifth all-time on the Huskies' single season record book. He gained 1,299 yards receiving that year, an average of 108.3 yards per game, including 4 receptions for 54 yards in the Huskies' 51–23 victory over Michigan State in the 1997 Aloha Bowl.

NFL playing career

Pathon was originally drafted 32nd overall in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft by the

. He was also selected by the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

in the second round (11th overall) of the 1997 CFL draft. Pathon played 46 regular-season games for Indianapolis (1998–2001) and 45 games for the

from 2002 to 2004. On December 21, 2003, during his time with the Saints, he scored the touchdown in the famous play known as The River City Relay, which could have led to a tie game, but only for the extra point to be missed by John Carney. He also played for the

in 2005. He finished with 260 career receptions for 3,350 yards and 15 touchdowns in 99 NFL games played as well as 36 kickoff returns for 773 yards.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

Pathon became the wide receivers coach at the

in July 2009. Pathon became the wide receivers coach at

South Florida South Florida, sometimes colloquially shortened to SoFlo, is the Regions of the United States#Florida, southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the two others are ...

in February 2012.

Lawsuit against the NFL

In December 2011, Pathon announced that he and a group of 11 other professional players had filed a lawsuit against the NFL. Pathon and his attorneys allege that the League failed to properly treat head injuries in spite of prevailing medical evidence, leading the players to develop effects of brain injury ranging from chronic headaches to depression.

References

External links

San Diego profile

USF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pathon, Jerome 1975 births Living people South African players of American football Canadian players of American football American football wide receivers Canadian football wide receivers Acadia Axemen football players Atlanta Falcons players Indianapolis Colts players New Orleans Saints players San Diego Toreros football coaches Seattle Seahawks players Washington Huskies football players Acadia University alumni Sportspeople from Cape Town Sportspeople from North Vancouver Players of Canadian football from British Columbia South African emigrants to Canada