The former NFL cornerback has filed suit in Orlando against multiple news organizations, including last week against ESPN, for defamation after they published stories in August on his allegedly trying to dash out of a Miami-Dade courtroom.
Patterson is seeking $50 million in damages from ESPN for its story, in which then-reporter James Walker cited police in saying Patterson injured two officers while trying to leave the family court to avoid being arrested. The Miami Herald, which Patterson is also suing, reported the same details, again citing police. Other sites, including The Post, picked up on the reports.
The 34-year-old Patterson was a journeyman from 2005 to 2013, with stints in Washington, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Miami. He also was with the Jets in a memorably short stint in 2014, when he disappeared from training camp and went AWOL for two days. When he returned, he ripped then-coach Rex Ryan and -GM John Idzik, saying his agent had alerted them of his whereabouts.
The Jets cut him shortly afterward.
It was the fans who made Amirante’s most famous moment with the Rangers: his anthem before Game 7 of the 1994 Stanley Cup Final, as the team was one win away from breaking a 54-year championship drought. The fans drowned him out. Amirante would later say it was the highlight of his career, even if his performance was rendered inaudible.
As for singing the anthem, which he did countless times at New York sporting events, Amirante contended it wasn’t a difficult song. “The problem is most people think too much about it,” he told Newsday in 2014. “I sing it like I’m saying my prayers at night. It just comes out.”
Amirante’s last performance at the Garden was on Feb. 25, before a Rangers game against the Detroit Red Wings.
Arnovitz: The Sixers have been hearing the murmurs — the playoffs are different and teams will lay off Ben Simmons, give him the Rajon Rondo treatment and force him to shoot. But you can’t sag on speed, and when Simmons gets rumbling in the open court, a defense has far more to worry about than a pull-up jumper from the Sixers point guard. Yes, Simmons will have some problem-solving puzzles to work against more prepared defenses, but he’ll find ways to hurt opponents, perimeter shots be damned.