# Jerome Pathon

Jerome Pathon (born December 16, 1975) is a South African-born Canadian former gridiron football player who was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies, earning first-team All-American honors in 1997. Selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft, he played in the NFL for the Colts, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons. After his playing career, he was a position coach for both the University of South Florida and University of San Diego 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 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia for one year (1993–94), where he had 44 receptions and 868 receiving yards and was named Atlantic University Sport (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

Pre-draft measurables :
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span |
| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | 187 lb (85 kg) | 30+7⁄8 in (0.78 m) | 9+7⁄8 in (0.25 m) |
| All values from NFL Combine ||||
Pathon was originally drafted 32nd overall in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He was also selected by the Montreal Alouettes in the second round (11th overall) of the 1997 Canadian College Draft. Pathon played 46 regular-season games for Indianapolis (1998–2001) and 45 games for the New Orleans Saints 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 Atlanta Falcons 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

Legend :
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 1998 | IND | 16 | 15 | 50 | 511 | 10.2 | 45 | 1 |
| 1999 | IND | 10 | 2 | 14 | 163 | 11.6 | 38 | 0 |
| 2000 | IND | 16 | 10 | 50 | 646 | 12.9 | 38 | 3 |
| 2001 | IND | 4 | 3 | 24 | 330 | 13.8 | 60 | 2 |
| 2002 | NOR | 14 | 13 | 43 | 523 | 12.2 | 64 | 4 |
| 2003 | NOR | 16 | 12 | 44 | 578 | 13.1 | 40 | 4 |
| 2004 | NOR | 15 | 7 | 34 | 581 | 17.1 | 38 | 1 |
| 2005 | ATL | 9 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 18 | 0 |
| | | 100 | 62 | 260 | 3,350 | 12.9 | 64 | 15 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving | Receiving |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD |
| 1999 | IND | 1 | 0 | 5 | 44 | 8.8 | 13 | 0 |
| 2000 | IND | 1 | 1 | 5 | 69 | 13.8 | 25 | 1 |
| | | 2 | 1 | 10 | 113 | 11.3 | 25 | 1 |

## Coaching career

Pathon became the wide receivers coach at the University of San Diego in July 2009. Pathon became the wide receivers coach at South Florida 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.