Paterson played college football at the tackle position for the Washington & Jefferson Presidents in 1913 and 1914.
The 1914 Washington & Jefferson team compiled a 10–0–1 record, defeated Yale, and fell one point short of a national championship after losing to Harvard by a score of 10–9.
In February 1915, a newspaper account reported that he had been "crippled probably for life" as a result of the injury, was required to walk with a crutch and had dropped from 225 to 175 pounds.
While recovering from those injuries in 1936, he was stricken with acute appendicitis and died during an operation in Pasadena, California.
[8] He was married to the former Ethel Wallington Butler and was father to eight children in Pearl River, Orangetown, NY.