Cordarrelle Patterson
American football player (born 1991)

Cordarrelle Patterson ( kor-DERR-əl; born March 17, 1991), nicknamed "Flash", is an American professional football running back. As a versatile utility player, he is also a kickoff returner and occasionally a wide receiver. Patterson played college football for the Hutchinson Blue Dragons before transferring to the Tennessee Volunteers, where he earned first-team All-SEC honors.
He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2013 NFL draft. Patterson has also been a member of the Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, and Pittsburgh Steelers.
During a game against the Green Bay Packers in 2013, Patterson tied the NFL record for longest play and set the NFL record for longest kickoff return with 109 yards, the longest possible. He is considered one of the greatest return specialists in NFL history, with a league record nine kickoff return touchdowns in his career, six of which have been longer than 100 yards. On the depth chart for the 2023 season, Patterson was listed under the position "Joker".
Early life
Patterson attended Northwestern High School in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where he played football, basketball, and ran track. He was coached by Jimmy Wallace.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cordarrelle Patterson” is american football player (born 1991). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cordarrelle, Patterson and American, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “american football player (born 1991)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5169899. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1991, 2013 and 2023.
A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Cordarrelle Patterson”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Cordarrelle Patterson primary sources, Cordarrelle Patterson archive and Cordarrelle research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cordarrelle Patterson”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Cordarrelle Patterson” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.