By Robert W. Dalton
It was a Wednesday, and Rick Patterson ’80, who worked in banking, was sitting at his desk. The call was short and to the point. The NFL had selected him for a spot on an officiating crew.
In the 27 seasons since, Patterson, who lives in Gaffney, S.C., has officiated in countless regular season and playoff games, including Dallas at San Francisco and Cincinnati at Kansas City this January. He’s also officiated in three Super Bowls: 2003 (Tampa Bay vs. Oakland), 2005 (New England vs. Philadelphia) and 2022 (L.A. Rams vs. Cincinnati).
“Getting to the Super Bowl is a great accomplishment,” says Patterson, who played wide receiver at Wofford. “Like a player, you get there because you’re good but also because you had some luck and the ball bounced your way.”
Patterson’s officiating career began the same day in 1980 as his banking career. John Godbold, who hired him at the bank, also was an official and invited Patterson to an organizational meeting that evening. He started officiating high school games and moved up to the college level, working games in several leagues, including the Southern Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference. In 1995, he worked four games in NFL Europe, where he was evaluated by NFL officials.
Patterson’s first NFL game was the New York Giants at Jacksonville. When he took the field, he was the youngest official in the league at age 36. He vividly remembers his first call, and he got it wrong.
“I threw a flag for illegal contact,” Patterson says. “I felt good at the time, but when I watched the film, I realized that it was really close, but I got it wrong.”
Patterson was a field judge for most of his career. He’s been a side judge for the past five seasons.
Being an official, he says, is a full-time job if it’s done properly. There’s intense film study, both of the previous game and of the teams for the upcoming game, and weekly tests on the rulebook. And then there’s the travel.
For most of his career, Patterson commuted to and from games while also working in the banking industry. He retired from banking in 2018.
“Your family life suffers a bit,” Patterson says. “You end up working 18-hour days trying to do it all, but it’s been a great career that provided my family with a lot of wonderful opportunities.”
On the field, Patterson wears No. 15. Officials get their number when they arrive in the league and wear it for their entire career.
“I’m only the third person to wear 15,” he says. “Someday there will be a fourth, but I’m not ready for the fourth yet.”
When he is ready, he plans to return to high school officiating for at least one season.
“I always enjoyed high schools,” he says. “I want to end where I started.”