Patterson inspires high schooler

During the first week of training camp, Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Mike Patterson suffered a seizure during practice and was later diagnosed with a brain arteriovenous malformation–which is a tangle of blood vessels in the skull. While the story is tragic and scary to think about, Patterson’s ability to return to the football field has given one college recruit diagnosed with a similar condition hope that he will be able to do the same if he’s cleared to play football again. Kyle Van Atta is a 6’4″ 285 pound senior football player at Fort Walton Beach that hopes to be playing at the college level this time next season. Not only does he play both right guard on offense and nose tackle on defense–but Kyle has been recruited by numerous big-name schools that include Southern Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa State, Clemson, Louisville, and Florida. In fact, Kyle’s play over the last few years earned him a spot as one of 12 players on the Dandy Dozen–a list that consists of the m...