Jerome Pathon
Jerome Pathon is a South African-born Canadian former gridiron football player who was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League. 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
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Pathon's family emigrated due to apartheid and settled in Vancouver when he was five. Pathon initially played soccer and ran track before picking up Canadian gridiron football at 14 years old. He was a student of Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver, Canada from 1987 to 1992.College career
Initially denied a scholarship to several American universities and more local Canadian schools, Pathon attended Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia for one year, where he had 44 receptions and 868 receiving yards and was named Atlantic University Sport and Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union Football Rookie of the Year.Pathon accepted a chance to walk on for the University of Washington Huskies, where he eventually became a standout wide receiver over three seasons from 1995 to 1997. His 73 receptions his senior year was the most in school history at the time and still ranks fifth all-time on the Huskies' single season record book. He gained 1,299 yards receiving that year at an average of 108.3 yards per game, both school records at the time, including 4 receptions for 54 yards in the Huskies' 51–23 victory over Michigan State in the 1997 Aloha Bowl.