Patton, Gary

 

Gary Patton

Gary Patton excelled in basketball, baseball and football at Admiral King from 1980-84. In basketball, he played on teams that were combined 45-5 his junior and senior seasons, while winning the Buckeye Conference and District Championship. In baseball he was first team All-Buckeye Conference, first team All District and All County.

His finest sport was football. As a junior he was named second team All Buckeye Conference and All District as a cornerback. He was the featured running back his senior year and rushed for 1,200 yards on his way to being named Conference MVP, first team All Conference, first team All Dsitrict and All County honors.

Gary accepted an athletic scholarship to Eastern Michigan University to play football. At EMU Gary earned four varsity letters while playing running back. In 1986 and 1987 he was first team All-Mid American Conference along with being named Team Offensive MVP in 1986 and Team MVP in 1987. He had back to back 1,000 yard rushing seasons leading his team to a 10-2 record his senior year. Gary is the career leader for the EMU Eagles in touchdowns – 31; all purpose yards – 5,533; rushing attempts – 702; and rushing yards – 3,497.

To conclude his record-setting career at EMU, Gary was named MVP of the 1987 California Bowl as EMU defeated San Jose State 30-27.

The New York Jets selected Gary in the seventh round of the 1988 NFL draft and he was the 15th running back picked out of 40 selected that year. Gary was the last cut the Jets made in training camp.

In 2009, Gary was inducted into the Eastern Michigan University Hall of Fame while his name was added to the Ring of Honor inside EMU Rynearson Stadium.

Gary stays connected to sports today as a registered football and basketball official. He and his wife, Traci, have five children and reside in Lorain.