Jelani Patterson

Jelani Patterson played defensive end for the Emory & Henry College Football Team from 1999-02.

In 1999, the team went 6 and 4, and in 2000 the Wasps finished 8 and 3, were ODAC Champions, and went to the NCAA Playoffs. That same year, Jelani was First Team All-ODAC.

His senior season, despite the team going 5-5, Patterson was an All-ODAC First-Team pick and went on to earn All-America honors from both the AFCA (First Team) and D3football.com (Third Team).

Over his career, he had 116 career tackles, 39 tackles for loss, 6 forced fumbles, and 2 fumble recoveries.

In 2000 he had 13 sacks in a single season. That puts him at the number three spot in E&H records.

Jelani racked up 28 career sacks. That makes him tied at third place in the E& H record books.

Jelani is a former police officer for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. He won the chief’s award for graduating at the top of his class: #1 out of 72 recruits.

These days, Jelani and his wife own an escape room business in Charlotte called Exit Strategy.