Super Bowl champion New England Patriots wide receiver David Patten was a high school wrestler from

The 2002 Super Bowl, when the Patriots upset the Rams, was a great game! David Patten of the New England Patriots caught a leaping touchdown pass just before the end of the first half to extend their lead to 14-3. Along with football in high school, David also wrestled in high school at Lower Richland in South Carolina for a couple of years. One of his wrestling coaches was my brother, Steve. It's always good to hear that one more athlete from the wrestling community has become a success. David was a heck of a raw athletic talent, with very strong family ties, who worked hard to become a Region Wrestling Champion. After working with my brother for the most part on his takedowns, David had an double leg takedown that was rarely stopped and noone could hold him down until the competition got tougher - as the skill level progressed. We wish he would have come out for wrestling a year or two sooner. This young man, a good kid when I knew him, was and is extremely fast and not scared at all to mix it up. As David is from my home town area [Hopkins is only about 10 miles away], we'll see if we can get him to make an appearance at one of this year's SC-USAW tournaments. Congratulations to wrestler David Patten for earning a Super Bowl ring!