![\"A](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_0,w_0,h_0\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/si\/01k3hx859j1ysyzkqxhs.jpg\" "\\"A")
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Michael Owens\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
Deuce is a fitting name for the dog. It\u2019s the continuation of a branding exercise that Surtain began in high school. \u201cI believe two is a lucky number,\u201d he says. He decided long ago that he prefers the Roman numeral II to the suffix Jr., just to be a little different. His name preceded him at American Heritage school in Plantation, Fla., given that he was the son of Patrick Surtain Sr., former star of the nearby Dolphins. The elder Surtain was close at hand, too\u2014he was the head coach during his son\u2019s senior season. So everyone knew the star corner as Pat Surtain II.<\/p>\n
Surtain\u2019s Heritage teammate Anthony Brown once called him PS2, like the video game console, and the nickname stuck. So why not lean into it? It became his jersey number at Alabama, where he won a national championship<\/a> and played in two title games in three years. And when the NFL loosened its uniform numbering policy just in time for his rookie season in 2021, Surtain carried the lucky digit with him to the pros.<\/p>\n This was a big offseason for Surtain. In February, he won an award that will change his standing within the game. His Broncos are coming off a playoff berth, his first after four seasons in Denver marked by the instability of changing coaches and quarterbacks. Now, finally, he may be ready to pen the most promising pages of a saga he\u2019s been writing his whole life.<\/p>\n Call it the Pat Surtain NFL story. Chapter II.<\/p>\n Patrick Surtain II became the seventh cornerback to win Defensive Player of the Year in 54 seasons. | Jeffery A. Salter\/ Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n Big Pat, as Surtain Sr. is known among family, was the Dolphins\u2019 second-round pick in 1998. He played cornerback in Miami for seven seasons, making three Pro Bowls and a pair of All-Pro teams. Little Pat was born in the spring after his dad\u2019s second pro season.<\/p>\n \u201cI can remember him being at training camp practice with the Dolphins and really just starting to walk,\u201d says Big Pat. \u201cHim running on the field with a football.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Pat\u2019s obsession with the game hardly ended there. \u201cHe used to draw these elaborate football stadiums,\u201d his dad says. \u201cAt a very young age. I remember one day he posted a picture, like, One day I\u2019m gonna be here.\u201d<\/p>\n Surtain was traded to the Chiefs during the 2005 draft. He signed an extension and played out the final four seasons of his career in Kansas City, which is where Little Pat\u2019s earliest football memories took hold.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had our own suite, and he was always locked in on the game,\u201d says his mom, Michelle. \u201cI remember him being younger and loving everything about football. If you told him a player\u2019s name, he knew their number. Or vice versa. If you said, \u2018What player is No. 23 on Chicago?\u2019 Or whatever. He would know the names off the top of his head.\u201d<\/p>\n One of his first games in youth football was in Arrowhead Stadium, where his dad played on Sundays. Another time, his team was invited to Arrowhead to take part in Chiefs pregame festivities, which included being on the field for the coin toss. The two Surtains snapped a photo together, which the younger Surtain says is among his first memories of the sport. \u201cThey looked like giants,\u201d he says of the NFL players. Now the 6’\u20092″, 202-pound corner is one himself, living so many of the experiences his dad once did, basking in the full-circle nature of his life and career.<\/p>\n For example: In 2006, Pat Surtain Sr. played in a Broncos-Chiefs game at Arrowhead on Thanksgiving. In 2025, Pat Surtain II will play in a Broncos-Chiefs game at Arrowhead on Christmas.<\/p>\n After Big Pat\u2019s retirement, the family moved back to South Florida. Little Pat and his two younger sisters all went to American Heritage, a K\u201312 prep school and a football powerhouse that would boast a dozen active NFL players in 2024. Surtain coached his son in youth football, and when Little Pat was in junior high, his dad took a job on the high school staff. During Surtain\u2019s four years of high school, his dad was the defensive backs coach for two seasons, the defensive coordinator his junior year and the Patriots\u2019 head coach for their final season together.<\/p>\n Little Pat grew up playing running back\u2014common for the most athletic kid on a youth team\u2014but by high school he had gravitated to his dad\u2019s pro position.<\/p>\n \u201cVery early on we would go out there and we would do DB drills,\u201d Big Pat says. \u201cSo I knew eventually he would play on that side of the ball. As he started maturing into his body, it just came naturally. I knew that the fundamentals were there from early on, and he just excelled at it.\u201d<\/p>\n As the elder Surtain moved up the coaching chain, his attention was dispersed across the team and he spent less time working directly with his son. Every now and then, though, he\u2019d have to come down on Little Pat. \u201cSometimes I had to make an example,\u201d he says. \u201cLike, Oh, he\u2019s yelling at Pat, we\u2019re not exempt from it.\u201d But that was rare.<\/p>\n Little Pat\u2019s steady demeanor helped him navigate his high-profile circumstances. \u201cHonestly, I was just playing football,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t really understand pressure like that. I just play the game, play the cards I was dealt and just keep it rolling day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n He was recruited by Nick Saban to play at Alabama and capped off three years in Tuscaloosa by winning the 2020 national championship, which he says is still the highlight of his football career.<\/p>\n Big Pat and Little Pat, as they\u2019re known to family. | Courtesy of Pat Surtain II<\/p>\n Vance Joseph has seen plenty of cornerbacks. The Broncos\u2019 defensive coordinator played the position himself for two years with the Jets and Colts, before embarking on a coaching career that now spans two decades in the NFL. In another fun twist of how the Surtains\u2019 lives are intertwined, Joseph and Big Pat go back to when they both were growing up in New Orleans. Both are from football families. Joseph\u2019s older brother, Mickey, is the head coach at Grambling State and his younger brother, Terry, played briefly for the 49ers.<\/p>\n Joseph raves about what a marvel Surtain is on the field. When he interviews corner prospects at the NFL combine and asks them whom they watch film of, they talk about Surtain. The coordinator believes anyone can learn from watching his star player. \u201c[They may say], \u2018I don\u2019t have Patrick\u2019s size,\u2019\u201d says Joseph. \u201c\u2018I don\u2019t have his length. I don\u2019t have his speed, maybe not his physical talent. But, man, I can play with that leverage, I can play with that knee bend, I can play with that eye placement. How he pedal-plants and drives.\u2019 It\u2019s a coach\u2019s dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph says Surtain has the smarts to pair with his rare, physical gifts. With age and experience, Joseph adds, \u201cHe\u2019s getting that edge that you want all great players to have. Like, I dare you to throw it at me. I dare you to run it my way.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph remembers one game when the Broncos were up big late. \u201cPat\u2019s playing kind of soft and he was playing smart,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I was trying to get him to play dominant. He\u2019s thinking, \u2018O.K., we\u2019re up by two or three scores, I don\u2019t want to give up a big play here.\u2019 I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Patrick, you\u2019re Pat Surtain. He\u2019s not gonna catch the ball on you, long or short, so press the guy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph says Surtain makes his life easier every week, covering deficiencies or allowing certain schemes. The coach considers it part of his job to keep his star involved by forcing teams to throw toward him. So he was as thrilled as anyone to see Surtain win DPOY.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a corner, it\u2019s tough to win that award,\u201d Joseph says. (Only seven have in 54 years.) \u201cBecause 95% of what Patrick does, no one ever sees. Now, when he makes the pick and he makes the tackle, he makes the big play on third down, everyone sees that. But no one sees the second-and-8 when he\u2019s covering his guy like a glove.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph can\u2019t say enough about how Surtain remains coachable and still knows he has areas to improve. \u201cThat goes back to how his parents raised him,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve never coached a player of his magnitude that\u2019s been so humble and such a sweetheart of a person.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wish he wasn\u2019t that way all the time,\u201d Vance adds with a chuckle. \u201cEven my first year coaching him, I told him, \u2018I wish you wasn\u2019t so nice.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In four pro seasons, Pat Surtain II has three Pro Bowls and two first-team All-Pro selections. | Jeffery A. Salter\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n Surtain\u2019s initial impression of Denver was exactly what you\u2019d expect. \u201cMy first thought was, \u2018What\u2019s a kid from South Florida doing out here in Denver, Colorado?\u2019\u201d he laughs now. \u201cI was a little nervous at first.\u201d It took him a month to adjust to the altitude. And to the climate. December of his first season brought the snow. \u201cI mean, I lived in Kansas City,\u201d he says, \u201cbut I think snow as an adult is different.\u201d But don\u2019t get him wrong. Draft night 2021 was a highlight for him\u2014and for the whole family. One year after a fully virtual NFL draft at the onset of COVID-19, Surtain\u2019s draft class enjoyed a socially distant return to the physical world. The venue in Cleveland had an indoor space for the family to be together as the Broncos made him the ninth pick.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something that he talked about and wished for, for a long time,\u201d his mom says. \u201cSo just to see his dreams come true, it was really special.\u201d Even for a kid who grew up watching his dad in the league and knew from a young age he could do the same.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t hit you until it hits you,\u201d Big Pat says. \u201cHe got the phone call from Denver, and you could see his whole demeanor change. The excitement. The culmination of all the hard work. It really hit him at once and it hit the whole family at once that he\u2019s gonna be playing in the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n Surtain made a highlight right away, with a pick-six in his preseason debut in Minnesota. Pat Sr. and Michelle were wearing their No. 2 Denver jerseys in the upper deck. \u201cWe were in the ceiling,\u201d Michelle jokes. \u201cWe were screaming.\u2009\u2026\u2009[People were like] That must be the parents.\u201d<\/p>\n These days, travel to games is a little tougher. In 2023, Big Pat was hired as the defensive backs coach at Florida State, and the Seminoles practice on Sundays during the season. Michelle divvies up the schedules, taking in mostly home games in Tallahassee and Denver.<\/p>\n Of course, Big Pat still watches his son\u2019s games and shares pointers. Not all NFL players have dads who coach their position at a Power 4 school, who\u2019ll call you up on a Wednesday and question you about a play where you had inside leverage and the receiver released outside. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year does.<\/p>\n Big Pat says most of the time when he passes along notes, Little Pat already knows what he did wrong and is working to fix it. \u201cHe\u2019s a grown man now, so I don\u2019t wanna blab that way,\u201d Big Pat says. \u201cBut he does know if Dad says something, then Dad knows what he\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n With Patrick Surtain II leading the defense and a rookie at quarterback, Denver made the playoffs for the first time since 2015. | Ron Chenoy\/ Imagn Images<\/p>\n Life in the NFL has not been all smooth sailing. The Broncos finished last in the AFC West in both of Surtain\u2019s first two seasons. Vic Fangio out. Nathaniel Hackett<\/a> and Russell Wilson in<\/a>. Hackett out, Sean Payton in<\/a>. Wilson out, Bo Nix in.<\/p>\n The low point came in Week 3 in 2023. It was Little Pat\u2019s first\u2014and so far only\u2014return to South Florida. His first pro game at Hard Rock Stadium, the same building where Big Pat suited up 58 times for the Dolphins.<\/p>\n Big Pat surprised him by showing up to the game, along with around 30 family members, even meeting him during pregame on the field, where Little Pat warmed up wearing a shirt that had his dad\u2019s name in Dolphins aqua and images of him in uniform.<\/p>\n The Dolphins scored 70 points that day. They could have set the all-time single-game scoring record but chose to kneel down instead of kicking a field goal on the game\u2019s final play.<\/p>\n \u201cUnforgivable,\u201d the younger Surtain calls the game. \u201cObviously they was good, but they ain\u2019t that damn good. Scoring 70 points. I feel like we didn\u2019t execute that game. And yeah, we just got whooped.\u201d<\/p>\n Though it galvanized them. \u201cWe all took our lesson that day and moved on,\u201d Joseph says. \u201cAt the end of the day, it was one game. It wasn\u2019t fun. It was embarrassing. But we didn\u2019t look at it like our lives were over. We looked at it like, Let\u2019s go correct [things] and move forward. And I think we\u2019re better off for it.\u201d<\/p>\n One note stands out from the box score of that game, aside from Miami\u2019s 10 touchdowns: Surtain and the rest of the starting secondary played 100% of the defensive snaps, even after the Broncos fell behind by 50.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just spoke to those guys\u2019 character that those guys wanted to finish the game,\u201d Joseph says. \u201cNo one even talked about coming out of the game; that wasn\u2019t even mentioned.\u201d<\/p>\n The team quickly turned things around. The Broncos won the following week in Chicago. A 1\u20135 start gave way to a five-game winning streak. From Weeks 6 through 14 they didn\u2019t allow more than 22 points in a game. That stretch run set the stage for the season to follow.<\/p>\n In came Nix, the 12th pick in the 2024 draft and the sixth quarterback off the board. He led the team to 10 wins and a playoff berth, including a 5\u20132 finish to the regular season.<\/p>\n Surtain says that Nix\u2019s energy was contagious. The defense also knew from the season before that it could step up to support a rookie quarterback. \u201cThat\u2019s what the league\u2019s all about,\u201d he says. \u201c\u2019Cause you know the defense is gonna try to create havoc on rookie quarterbacks, and we got to do the same as well. That\u2019s what we did the whole season. Doing our part.\u201d<\/p>\n The Broncos\u2019 defense finished third in points allowed and second in yards per rush and net yards per pass attempt. The season ended with a 31\u20137 wild-card loss in Buffalo, but it was a major step forward and brought hope for a sustained turnaround.<\/p>\n Pat Surtain II takes pride in looking stylish off the field too. | Jeffery A. Salter\/Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n A few weeks later in Big Pat\u2019s home city of New Orleans, Surtain was on stage at the NFL Honors during Super Bowl week. His parents were seated next to him when he found out he won, and they had plenty of family on hand to celebrate afterward.<\/p>\n Michelle says her son prophesized it. \u201cThis was his second or third time going to that show, in different cities,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd the last one, he was like, \u2018When I come back again, I wanna be called on the stage for an award.\u2019 And the next one he went to, this year, he was Defensive Player of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n Success can lead to distractions. Surtain has found ways to stay grounded as the requests for his time have continued to increase. He loves visiting a new country every offseason, and this year he went to Japan to see the temples and Mt. Fuji. He took up golf. He spent time with Deuce and his longtime girlfriend, Kevia Higdon. He does work for his foundation, strengthening the roots he has put down in Denver.<\/p>\n Big goals remain, and in a division stacked with genius coaches and a conference full of star quarterbacks, the Broncos still have their own mountains to climb. But Surtain maintains his confidence as he checks off one more career goal after another. The Super Bowl remains atop the list. The Hall of Fame may be in reach, too. His accolades are piling up quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cSeems like he just got there, but he\u2019s going on his fifth year,\u201d Big Pat says. \u201cIt goes by fast.\u201d (After all, he\u2019d know.)<\/p>\n Surtain wears his family name every time he takes the field\u2014obviously on the back of his jersey but really all over his body. He has images of his father\u2019s pro jerseys tattooed on his leg, along with one of his own. The word LEGACY runs down his right leg. He has SURTAINLY BLESSED in script across his two biceps.<\/p>\n His NFL story spans generations, as his career unfolds with new memories and parallel experiences in meaningful cities and stadiums across the league. From New Orleans to Miami to Kansas City to Denver. There is much more ink to spill as he continues writing Chapter II.<\/p>\n More From The MMQB:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes are on Deuce. The 80-pound, 10-month-old Doberman, with ears sticking straight up like a ref signaling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-96991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_811,y_330,w_0,h_0\/c_fill,w_16,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/voltaxMediaLibrary\/mmsport\/si\/01k3hxhxaattr1d1d9v5.jpg\" "\\"Patrick")
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