Solomon Patton Jr. (born October 17, 1990) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver. He played college football for the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. He was signed by the Buccaneers as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2014. He has also been a member of the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of the NFL.

Early life

Patton attended Murphy High School in Mobile, Alabama, where he played football and ran track. As a sophomore, he hauled in 66 receptions for 950 yards and nine touchdowns. As a junior in 2008, he was named to the ASWA All-State 6A first-team after recording 845 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. In his final year, he had 30 rushes for 371 yards and three touchdowns and caught 71 passes for 891 yards and seven touchdowns. He also averaged 38.8 yards on five kickoff returns. Following his senior season, he was invited to play in the Alabama/Mississippi All-Star Game. Patton was also a

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

star at Murphy. At the 2008 AHSAA 4A-6A Championship, he recorded a personal-best time of 10.67 seconds in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

on his way to a first-place finish. As a senior, he participated in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and posted a leap of 6.58 meters (21'6") at the McT Jump-N-Throw. He also ran the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

in 21.64 seconds at the Mobile Challenge Invitational, placing third. Regarded as a four-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heck ...

, Patton was rated a four-star prospect and the No. 36 wide receiver in the nation by Scout.com.

College career

Patton attended the

, where he played for coach

Urban Meyer Urban Frank Meyer III (born July 10, 1964) is a college football TV commentator and former American football coach. He spent most of his coaching career at the collegiate level, having served as the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons fr ...

and coach

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co- defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida f ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division ...

teams from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

. During his four-year college career he played in 43 games for the Gators, started eight of them, recording 52 receptions for 635 yards and six

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

. He also was a

return specialist A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

and set the team record for highest kick-return average in a season with 29.2.

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Patton signed with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

as an

after the

2014 NFL Draft The 2014 NFL draft was the 79th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players to the league. The draft, officially the "Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in New Y ...

. With the Buccaneers Patton had 18 kick returns for 416 yards and a long of 28 and 10 punt returns for 112 yards and a long of 33. Patton was waived by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on October 21, 2014.

Arizona Cardinals

Patton was signed by the Arizona Cardinals on October 25, 2014.

Denver Broncos

Patton was claimed off waivers by the

on May 12, 2015. He was released by the Broncos on August 28, 2015.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

On March 14, 2016, Solomon Patton agreed to a contract with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play their h ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ...

References

External links

Tampa Bay Buccaneers bioFlorida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patton, Solomon 1990 births Living people Players of American football from Mobile, Alabama American football wide receivers American football return specialists Florida Gators football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Arizona Cardinals players Denver Broncos players