MOBILE – A former Petal Panther is living out his dream in Mobile, Alabama, this week.
Javon Patterson, a December 2014 graduate of Petal, has spent the last four football seasons battling some of the best college defensive linemen, and now he’s preparing to do the same in the NFL. Along with more than 100 other college football seniors, Patterson is in Mobile gearing up for Saturday’s Senior Bowl.
“I’ve always envisioned myself competing at the highest level, and it’s kind of a thing I’ve always worked towards,” Patterson said. “God just kept blessing me and he put me in this position. It’s a blessing to be here.”
Since the end of the 2018 season in late November, Patterson has been preparing for events like the Senior Bowl, Pro Day and the NFL Draft in Kennesaw, Georgia, at Prime Athlete Development. The 6-foot-3-inch, 306-pound offensive lineman played the majority of his career at the guard position, but he’s been honing his technique at center for the NFL scouts this week.
Patterson expects to play mostly guard Saturday, but he’ll definitely see time at center. He’s started for Ole Miss since his freshman season, but he only played four games at the position – three as a sophomore and one his junior season.
“Just making sure you can snap and get on defenders,” Patterson said of playing center. “You have to be able to make calls, and I’ve made some calls before in the offense at Ole Miss, but you’re in charge. You have to make sure your guys are on the same page with what you’re doing.”
Patterson said he got the call from Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy three weeks ago, and he was “stoked” to get the invitation to the prestigious event.
“Things like this don’t come around for many people, especially people from where I’m from,” Patterson said. “It’s been a blessing to be part of this process and to compete with the best of the best.”
While guard, and a little bit of center, Patterson never missed a game while playing for Ole Miss. The Petal native played more than 800 snaps last season, as he was a mainstay on the line for the Rebels.
He did have shoulder surgery in April 2017, but he didn’t miss any playing time when the season began in August.
“It really doesn’t feel like a lot once you’ve been doing it,” Patterson said. “Being there four years, you know your body, so you have to take care of yourself. It’s engrained in your mind what you do every day.”
Taking care of his body with the daily SEC grind prepared Patterson for moments like Saturday. In practice, he’ll battle defensive linemen like Alabama’s Isaiah Buggs and Texas A&M’s Daylon Mack, while going up against players like Washington’s Greg Gaines on Saturday.
Starting four years at Ole Miss allowed Patterson to gain valuable experience, too.
“It’s a job interview the whole way,” Patterson said of the NFL Draft process. “You want to make sure you’re on your A-game and you’re competing. You’re showing what you do is why you came to play football and what you’re best at. You can’t let everything overwhelm you. You have to simplify things in the best way you can, and go out there and do your job.”
Patterson was a mainstay on the offensive line for Petal, too. He was a part of the state runner-up Petal team in 2011, and he helped the Panthers make the playoffs all four years on the varsity team.
“It was great to go through the process with coach (Steve) Buckley and coach (Marcus) Boyles, and big credit for coach (Pete) Holeman for believing in me,” Patterson said. “He moved me up from my ninth-grade year to play varsity for four years.”
The 2019 Senior Bowl is set for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile.
