FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coaches and fans were relieved when tight end Jeremy Patton (6-6, 250 pounds) arrived for the second session of summer school.
Patton, rated as the nation’s No. 1 junior college tight end, hoped he would be able to arrive in January and go through spring drills, or at least make it in time for the first session of summer school.
But it wasn't until June when Patton, who shined at Arizona Western the past two seasons, finally made his move to Fayetteville.
“It was like the biggest weight being lifted off of my shoulders,” Patton said. “Day one, the day that I got here, the ball started rolling and it was a definite relief.”
Patton needed to switch majors in the spring and take a speech communication in summer school to complete his junior college degree.
“I was caught off guard,” Patton said. “I did not know that I needed it. But once I did it, I ended up going to the professor and got all my work done early and got out here.”
Patton wants Arkansas fans to know he will catch up quickly because of his work ethic.
“I am just trying to do all that I can do, be the best that I can possibly be, trying to give it all I got because that’s how I play the game of football,” Patton said. “I don’t leave anything on the field and I try to be a great teammate and if that takes me where I need to be then that will be great.”
He noticed the difference in junior college football and SEC football the first day.
“Every guy is fast, every guy is strong and you have to really adjust to that,” Patton said. “My first day I struggled a little bit with that, but I have been picking it up and I am now playing every play to know that I have to go.”
The fact that he was an inline blocking tight end at Arizona Western made him an even more desirable recruit for the Razorback staff.
“That’s all I did,” Patton said. “We were a pro-style offense and I was on the line and we were running power stretch zone each and every way.”
He realizes it would have been better for him to be here earlier.
“You miss out on so much, bonding with teammates, learning from the coaches, figuring out the system in the spring, where it is a little less urgent to learn and you can kind of take your time with it,” Patton said. “That would have helped me a lot.
“But I’m picking it up, the ball is rolling now and I think I am going to get there.”
Patton makes it clear that he is at Arkansas because of head coach Bret Bielema and chief recruiter Barry Lunney, who is also his position coach.
“That is half the reason that I am here right now - the love and support that those guys showed me throughout the process,” Patton said. “Man, Coach Lunney is the reason I am here right now obviously with the scheme of offense under Coach B.
“Coach Lunney generally cares and that is something that I really take to heart.”
It has been a long journey to Arkansas. Patton was born in Indianapolis, moved to Florida and built log homes in Kentucky before playing junior college football in Yuma, Ariz.
“I lived...in a really rough neighborhood,” Patton said. “…I’ve been around. Adapting is not a problem. I have had to do that all my life. Adversity is my best friend.”
It's different in Arkansas.
“It is a blessing to be here,” Patton said. “I come from a place where I didn’t have a bed to sleep on and to get here and have all these is an extreme blessing. It is great. It is everything that it is supposed to be.”
He is happy with the Arkansas weather, too.
“This is not hot at all,” Patton said with a laugh. “I believe I can handle this.
“I remember flying from Indianapolis and I remember specifically that it was 84 degrees when I left and when I got to Yuma it was 121 with 30 mph hour winds. It felt like I was in a microwave outside. That was surreal and that was tough.”