PHILADELPHIA -- You'll forgive Damoun Patterson for a little spontaneous backflip.
After all, he wasn't supposed to be at Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday night playing in his first NFL game. Heck, he had never even been to an NFL game before.
But there he was, not only hauling in a leaping 29-yard touchdown pass from Josh Dobbs to close out the scoring in the first half of a 31-14 Steelers' victory over the Eagles, he was leading the team with six catches for 77 yards.
"He made a heck of a catch," Dobbs said. "He's been doing that all camp, so I have a lot of trust in him."
It was all kind of surreal for Patterson, who not only went undrafted out of Youngstown State, but wasn't offered a contract by any NFL team in the week following the NFL draft.
Patterson was invited to the Steelers' rookie minicamp two weeks after the draft and did well enough that the team offered to keep him around afterward. The thing he felt caught the team's eye?
"I made a handful of plays that weekend," Patterson told me. "I think my downfield speed was what made the difference. I was running past guys."
He hasn't stopped doing that since, showing excellent speed and the ability to get deep against top-notch competition. That's not surprising to anyone who saw him average just under 20 yards per catch in two seasons for the Penguins.
What was surprising was that Patterson was timed at just 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash at his on-campus workout. Patterson feels he's much faster than that.
"Oh yeah, definitely," he told me. "I can't explain that. I put on a few pounds and got up to 195. I focused more on my weight than my speed. I'm probably in the 4.3s."
Patterson has since settled in at 190 pounds on his 6-foot-1 frame. And that's plenty of size, especially if he keeps running past people. But he also knows he has to do more than just that.
Patterson got off to a hot start at training camp, but had slipped in the past week after letting a deep pass slip through his grasp midway through the week. Mike Tomlin turned and threw his hands in the air when it happened.
And Patterson stewed about it to the point where the drops started happening a little more frequently. It slowed any early momentum he had, but he regained that in a big way against the Eagles, particularly with fans who hadn't seen or heard anything about him.
"I think I made a pretty good first impression," he told me. "Hopefully, I can continue to get better and stay focused."
That will be the key, much as it has been throughout his football journey, which started at Wekiva High School in Apopka, Fla.
How does a kid from Florida wind up in Youngstown? Well, that was the shortest of Patterson's journeys to this point.
He wasn't recruited strongly coming out of high school. Actually, that would be an understatement.
"In high school, I had zero offers," he told me.
So he went to a prep school and wound up at Utah State as an invited walk-on. He started three games for the Aggies as a true freshman, but being that far away from home was tough and back to Florida he went before heading off to Kansas to Highland Junior College.
"I went home and stayed at home," he said. "JUCO worked out for me and I wound up at Youngstown State."
Patterson helped the Penguins reach the FCS championship game as a junior, averaging over 24 yards per catch on his 20 receptions, then had a solid senior season, as well. But the pro offers didn't come.
For a 23-year-old with two children and another on the way, that tryout opportunity with the Steelers was a much-needed pick-me-up.
"I've got a lot on my plate. It's a lot of motivation for me," he told me.
That motivation was on display against the Eagles. Maybe it was a step in the right direction in helping him earn some kind of role with the Steelers. Maybe it will open some eyes somewhere else if it doesn't happen here. He doesn't know.
And he was too excited after the game to think about any of the possibilities. Heck, he was so excited, he didn't even keep the ball he caught for a touchdown.
"No, I gave it up. I wish I hadn't done that," he said. "I ain't never been to an NFL game before."
He has now. And now fans will be looking for an encore performance next Thursday night when the Steelers travel to Green Bay for their second preseason game.
"Man, it's a dream," he told me when I asked him if he could have envisioned that kind of performance. "I think I've been representing myself, making it known I have what it takes to get better, attack the game the same way and buy into the system."