Former Washington offensive lineman Joe Patton dies

In some sad news, former Washington offensive tackle Joe Patton died this week. Patton, 50, was a third-round pick by Washington in the 1994 NFL draft and spent five seasons with the team.

On Instagram, his former teammate, Tre Johnson, shared the news of Patton’s passing.

In his five NFL seasons, Patton played in 61 games for Washington, making 54 starts. He was a part of the same draft class as Johnson, which also included quarterbacks Heath Shuler and Gus Frerotte. While the quarterbacks were the headliners, Johnson and Patton were arguably the best players from that draft class.

Patton played college football at Alabama A&M.

In his Instagram post, Johnson noted he posted the news of Patton’s death on social media as a way to “link up with all my brethren who I don’t keep in contact with from those times like I should to not only alert you to this fact but see if you have additional information.”

A pair of longtime Washington sportswriters remembered Patton fondly.

Patton’s head coach in Washington was Norv Turner. Turner’s son, Scott, is now the offensive coordinator of the Commanders.

Story originally appeared on Commanders Wire