With Cordarrelle Patterson's NFL career at a low point, not even midnight winter air could chill one fan's disdain.
Walking between Duluth, Minn., watering holes, Patterson heard the tongue lashings and blocked them just as he does Twitter hounds. The player shouting back wasn't the Vikings' high-profile first-round pick but his friend from Detroit Lakes, Minn.
"When I'm out in public, people say stuff, but I just ignore it," Patterson said. "I feel like Adam [Thielen], he'll always have my back. That's just what your boys do for you. Somebody acting stupid, your boy is going to help you out."
Thielen, his left arm in a sling after shoulder surgery, came to Patterson's defense against a jeering fan who may have just received an autograph, photo or handshake from either receiver. The two were in town as part of the Vikings' Winterfest, a charitable endeavor in February. They were only weeks removed from a disappointing playoff loss to the Seahawks, in which Patterson didn't play a single snap on offense.
Around that time is when teammates say they noticed a maturing professional in Patterson, the 25-year-old dynamic receiver who once again is contributing in the Vikings' three-receiver offense. Now the soon-to-be free agent is trying to flip coveted snaps into a new contract and, potentially, become wanted in NFL circles once again.
Patterson is still the one in the receiver room keeping it light with a carefree smile, which has remained through a young, yet wild, roller coaster of a career.
"It's actually impressive," Thielen said, "because of how much crap he's taken."
